Does fibre mean no future Telecom VDSL plans?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Does fibre mean no future Telecom VDSL plans?

newbellies

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#115708 4-Apr-2013 06:48

I seem to recall reading that Telecom was considering rolling out VDSL to its customers. Now with the big push with fibre plans, I'm wondering if that'd ever happen. Has Telecom stated anything publicly about its intent with VDSL lately?

I'm so sick of my upload speed, but there are no plans (yet?) to bring fibre here. Gunshy about switching providers.

Found a related, but old thread here:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=39&topicid=86186

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#792843 4-Apr-2013 06:48

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

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plambrechtsen

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#792856 4-Apr-2013 07:05

Yes there are plans to launch VDSL. Can't comment more than that.

Jaxson

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#792882 4-Apr-2013 08:04

plambrechtsen: Yes there are plans to launch VDSL. Can't comment more than that.

Hopefully there are plans to launch it at a realistic price point?
VDSL seems out in a world of it's own, with UFB fibre pricing plans very similar to ADSL offerings, but VDSL being $20 ish more than both of these.

NonprayingMantis

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#792888 4-Apr-2013 08:17

Jaxson:
plambrechtsen: Yes there are plans to launch VDSL. Can't comment more than that.

Hopefully there are plans to launch it at a realistic price point?
VDSL seems out in a world of it's own, with UFB fibre pricing plans very similar to ADSL offerings, but VDSL being $20 ish more than both of these.

it will really depend on chorus. currently they charge $20 more for VDSL than ADSL, so any telco that sells VDSL is going to have to charge at least $20+GST more just to cover the extra input cost.

If chorus drop the price (it isn't regulated - they can charge what they want) then we might get more uptake, but right now there are very few people willing to pay that much extra for VDSL - especially considering that the people who can actually get VDSL should already get >10Mbps ontheir home broadband already, which is more than fast enough to do virtually anything the average consumer wants to do.)

sbiddle

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#792896 4-Apr-2013 08:23

NonprayingMantis:
Jaxson:
plambrechtsen: Yes there are plans to launch VDSL. Can't comment more than that.

Hopefully there are plans to launch it at a realistic price point?
VDSL seems out in a world of it's own, with UFB fibre pricing plans very similar to ADSL offerings, but VDSL being $20 ish more than both of these.

it will really depend on chorus. currently they charge $20 more for VDSL than ADSL, so any telco that sells VDSL is going to have to charge at least $20+GST more just to cover the extra input cost.

If chorus drop the price (it isn't regulated - they can charge what they want) then we might get more uptake, but right now there are very few people willing to pay that much extra for VDSL - especially considering that the people who can actually get VDSL should already get >10Mbps ontheir home broadband already, which is more than fast enough to do virtually anything the average consumer wants to do.)

The biggest reason for VDSL2 is upload speed. ADSL2+ is pretty much useless for any business who needs to upload or wants to use VoIP with any more than a single line.

plambrechtsen

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#792904 4-Apr-2013 08:39

sbiddle:
NonprayingMantis:
Jaxson:
plambrechtsen: Yes there are plans to launch VDSL. Can't comment more than that.

Hopefully there are plans to launch it at a realistic price point?
VDSL seems out in a world of it's own, with UFB fibre pricing plans very similar to ADSL offerings, but VDSL being $20 ish more than both of these.

it will really depend on chorus. currently they charge $20 more for VDSL than ADSL, so any telco that sells VDSL is going to have to charge at least $20+GST more just to cover the extra input cost.

If chorus drop the price (it isn't regulated - they can charge what they want) then we might get more uptake, but right now there are very few people willing to pay that much extra for VDSL - especially considering that the people who can actually get VDSL should already get >10Mbps ontheir home broadband already, which is more than fast enough to do virtually anything the average consumer wants to do.)

The biggest reason for VDSL2 is upload speed. ADSL2+ is pretty much useless for any business who needs to upload or wants to use VoIP with any more than a single line.

And as you well know Steve offering VoIP is also complex getting workable qos and CIR playing nicely.

I have no idea what the product pricing will be but know the technology side is well underway. In some ways UFB is easier since it is a known quantity that you are going to have a day of pain with Chorus doing the trenching to deliver the fibre to your home as it is all new gear and fibre not copper it will work once you have the fibre inside your house. With VDSL you have all the fun of getting a master filter and hoping the prequal and copper in the ground is ok. Plus how to make it scale country wide.

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surfisup1000

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#792905 4-Apr-2013 08:42

newbellies:
I'm so sick of my upload speed, but there are no plans (yet?) to bring fibre here. Gunshy about switching providers.

I've been a Telecom customer for 10 years and have come to trust them as a good quality provider.

As with you, I have been reluctant to change to a new ISP.

But Telecom have been disappointing me for some time now and Telecoms UFB was the final straw.

So I've been investigating other ISPs and in my opinion Snap is the best alternative. Snap offer VDSL and provide for a smooth transition to UFB when available.

Snaps fritzbox is compatible for both UFB and VDSL and has a built in 'dect' base station so you can use your existing DECT-GAP handsets over voip -- the handsets just connect to the fritzbox rather than your existing base station. You also get to keep your current telecom phone number.

Snaps pricing is simlar to Telecom (for the 500gb plan). But snap does offer 0-rated offpeak so if you use that then snap wins on a cost/gb basis.

The negatives of snap is that they are a smaller ISP and I'm not sure if they offer 24/7 support in case of outages. You also need to outlay $345-$395 for a fritzbox but this is one of the best things about the snap service so well worth it. If you don't have dect-gap handsets you may need to allow for that cost too.

Another negative , not specifically Snap related but VOIP does fail if the power goes out or the fritzbox crashes/reboots.

Snap mandate a high connection fee for VDSL/ADSL master splitters -- this is just the chorus fee passed on , but you can arrange this yourself for much less.

So far, I'm talking myself into it.

myfullflavour

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#792919 4-Apr-2013 09:02

NonprayingMantis: it will really depend on chorus. currently they charge $20 more for VDSL than ADSL, so any telco that sells VDSL is going to have to charge at least $20+GST more just to cover the extra input cost.

Exactly. I sell Clothed Unmetered VDSL at $99+GST / month and I can tell you our margins on UFB Fibre are 3x better.

So why do I bother with VDSL?

1) I experienced the product for myself and with UFB Fibre 4 years away at the time, it was the next best thing (and when various factors line up, it performs better than entry level UFB!). I soon had a number of colleagues, friends and some customers on it. The word spread and it became a product for us.

2) We sell with a UFB-Fibre capable modem. Once UFB-Fibre is available to the customer, we offer to upgrade them at a very competitive rate.

OP: PM if you'd like to have a chat further about it, I can point you to numerous individuals and small business customers using our service who are more than satisfied with it.

quickymart

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#793051 4-Apr-2013 11:44

I want to check if my address can get VDSL (I think it can) but it looks like Chorus has changed the address checker and it doesn't show VDSL availability anymore - not that I can see, anyway.

michaelmurfy

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#793055 4-Apr-2013 11:50

quickymart: I want to check if my address can get VDSL (I think it can) but it looks like Chorus has changed the address checker and it doesn't show VDSL availability anymore - not that I can see, anyway.

Ugh that's really annoying! They've pretty-much removed SAT by the looks.

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Behodar

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#793062 4-Apr-2013 11:57

quickymart: I want to check if my address can get VDSL (I think it can) but it looks like Chorus has changed the address checker and it doesn't show VDSL availability anymore - not that I can see, anyway.

www.chorus.co.nz/maps will show "Broadband > 20 Mbps (with the right modem and plan)" if you're in a VDSL area.

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newbellies

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#793148 4-Apr-2013 13:07

Can a mod please remove the 's' from 'means' in the topic title? It makes me cringe. :-)

Not sure if I'm able to, but couldn't figure it out.

myfullflavour

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#793159 4-Apr-2013 13:30

quickymart: I want to check if my address can get VDSL (I think it can) but it looks like Chorus has changed the address checker and it doesn't show VDSL availability anymore - not that I can see, anyway.

Feel free to PM me your address and I can run a check and advise likelihood of connection performance based on the result Chorus provide me.

sidefx

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#793185 4-Apr-2013 13:45

surfisup1000:

Snap mandate a high connection fee for VDSL/ADSL master splitters -- this is just the chorus fee passed on , but you can arrange this yourself for much less.

So far, I'm talking myself into it.

Doesn't sound like you need much convincing, but I'll still say I've been extremely happy with snap VDSL.

You're right though, the master splitter install fee they quote is pretty crazy, but once I found you can just DIY it I went for it and haven't looked back. Can't say I have too much problem paying an extra $25 each month for it though I would prefer a bit less; not much point comparing the cost to UFB plans though as I can't get UFB for another 2-3 years or so - on my line VDSL gave me x3 download and x9 upload. The huge increase in upload especially is brilliant.

VoiP has also been outstanding with a bunch of extra features I didn't have on my old pots line.

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hio77

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#794163 6-Apr-2013 04:13

quickymart: I want to check if my address can get VDSL (I think it can) but it looks like Chorus has changed the address checker and it doesn't show VDSL availability anymore - not that I can see, anyway.

call snap and have them run a pre-qual, for me i was just outside of the vdsl line on sat, and just outside of the 20mbit section on maps.

that would indicate outside of vdsl range and thus attentions should be to be expected over 10db, however prequal was 3db, and synced at 4db.. clearly within range, would seem a few cabinets are missed..

going slightly off topic, but apparently my parents home is in the greater than 5mbit range, while sitting at 60db attention and thus 2.5mbit is about the max that will get..

so personally i wouldnt put too much heart into the maps

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