Question about UFB

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Question about UFB

Kiwi089

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#160596 12-Jan-2015 23:06

Hi I am abit confused, I went to see if UFB was available at the place I am staying at now and the Spark website says it's unavailable but on the chorus site it tells me the opposite. Here are some images. I have the address number removed for privacy reasons. Will pm info.

Any help will be appreciated.

hio77

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#1212859 12-Jan-2015 23:19

Ild have a chat with pl

Probably just a database error...

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Kiwi089

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#1212861 12-Jan-2015 23:22

Thanks. Hopefully I can get this figured out asap.

hio77

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#1212865 12-Jan-2015 23:44

Kiwi089: Thanks. Hopefully I can get this figured out asap.

pm pl your details, he will set you right quickly im sure :)

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wsnz

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#1212959 13-Jan-2015 09:18

Don't worry, I had a similar experience with the online tool.

When checking UFB status, all the residences in my street from the start of the street to my house returned that it was not available but still suggested a UFB plan, yet other houses returned that UFB was available. It turned out that a group of us had been registered in a different suburb and somehow that broke the tool.

These things happen unfortunately!

cbrpilot

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Spark NZ

#1212988 13-Jan-2015 09:52

In this particular case it would appear from your description that Chorus have updated their maps, but not their prequal. If you'd like I can check this out for you tomorrow when I'm in the office. PM me your house number and I'll take a look

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

wasabi2k

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#1213057 13-Jan-2015 10:55

FYI it took a month from when the chorus map showed me as UFB available (Nov 1) to when Spark let me sign up (Dec 1).

But luckily we have some friendly insiders on here to hook you up.

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Kiwi089

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#1213060 13-Jan-2015 11:03

I also saw this round cabinet looking thing across the road.

and also this

What are the purpose of these?

wellygary

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#1213066 13-Jan-2015 11:12

Kiwi089: I also saw this round cabinet looking thing across the road.
What are the purpose of these?

Yip that's UFB all right, the square box is where fibres branch out to final houses,

The big round things is a "Fibre Access terminal" basically the central point for all of the little square boxes in a presicribed area,

plambrechtsen

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#1215069 14-Jan-2015 20:05

If Dave hasn't sorted you already. Email me "pl at spark.co.nz" and I'll look into it tomorrow. It does look like you can get ufb if the photos are anything to go by.

cbrpilot

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#1215128 14-Jan-2015 22:06

Just an update, as per my PM, Chorus say you can't get it (yet) in their prequal tool which all RSPs use to determine if the service is available.
Usually this is just a matter of time where they have recently installed the infrastructure. I may be able to determine more tomorrow when looking into when they have committed to making the service available off that cabinet.

My views are my own, and may not necessarily represent those of my employer.

RobBB

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#1215141 14-Jan-2015 22:24

Strange because I was looking today, thinking about swapping ISP's and it told me UFB was not available in Hamilton, but I have been using it at this hamilton house since late 2013.

-- Rob

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InstallerUFB

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#1215143 14-Jan-2015 22:38

RobBB: Strange because I was looking today, thinking about swapping ISP's and it told me UFB was not available in Hamilton, but I have been using it at this hamilton house since late 2013.

It wont show up on the Chorus map as Chorus dont do UFB in Hamilton - Ultrafast Broadband is the LFC for Hamilton

RobBB

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#1215146 14-Jan-2015 22:46

So does that limit my ISP options? Do I have to go with a non-corus friendly ISP, for example can I use the telecom sub company BigPipe?

Not that it really matters as I am tied into this plan until June, but Bipipe are offering unlimited at 100/20 and essentially free static IP for $30 less a month than I am paying now for unlimited at 30/10

-- Rob

plambrechtsen

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#1215217 15-Jan-2015 06:25

RobBB: So does that limit my ISP options? Do I have to go with a non-corus friendly ISP, for example can I use the telecom sub company BigPipe?

Not that it really matters as I am tied into this plan until June, but Bipipe are offering unlimited at 100/20 and essentially free static IP for $30 less a month than I am paying now for unlimited at 30/10

It's up to each ISP as to who they negotiate agreements with LFCs in each fibre area. Spark has handovers with ever LFC in all UFB areas so we have the greatest coverage in that space. Bigpipe are a completely separate entity from Spark and are running their own infrastructure so will need to negotiate their own agreements with the LFCs. I believe Bigpipe only offer UFB in Auckland.

Speaking from experience the differences between each LFC is not trivial. I was personally working through a number of production issues yesterday with our broadband provisioning team. I found it extremely interesting the completely different approach they take depending on which LFC they are dealing with. Each of them have their own individual portlal. Prequalification and ordering is completely different. The ability to fix faults or provisioning issues greatly differs depending which LFC we are talking about.

Kiwi089

26 posts

Geek

#1215512 15-Jan-2015 14:26

Great info, Thanks. Let me know if something pops up.