Spark increasing copper broadband prices $5/mth from 1 October

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark increasing copper broadband prices $5/mth from 1 October

ockel

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#240388 5-Sep-2018 17:40

In case you didnt get the text message today, its ~6% price increase for the lowest plans:

THE PRICE OF COPPER BROADBAND PLANS IS CHANGING

We always do our best to keep prices down, but the cost to manage copper connections is higher than other types of broadband. So we’re increasing the price of residential Copper Broadband plans by $5 a month from 1 October, 2018.

What are your options?

If you're happy to stay on VDSL or ADSL, you'll see the $5 increase on your bill from October onwards. Or, if you want to explore your options, we've got other plans which might suit you better – including Fibre and Wireless. Click here to see what’s available at your place.

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meow
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#2084472 5-Sep-2018 17:58

Good. Hopefully it gets the people across the road from me onto UFB. I see Chorus vans always at their place and they're on Spark.

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ockel

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#2084494 5-Sep-2018 19:00

michaelmurfy:

Good. Hopefully it gets the people across the road from me onto UFB. I see Chorus vans always at their place and they're on Spark.

Pity those poor people that dont have UFB (and are unlikely to in the near future). I must have missed the memo that Chorus was pushing up wholesale prices. Either that or Sparks profits are down so prices go up.

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hio77

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#2084498 5-Sep-2018 19:16

Yep, it's an unfortunate change but required.

I've passed my feedback on it personally, I'm one of those only option is copper customers afterall.

There is no change to skinny/BP at this stage.

I fully expect views on it will be very scattered views about this.

My best tip for it would be, if you have availability of another service, say wireless or Fibre May be time to start getting ready to jump across.

Things like one day installs and work with LFC's such as chorus are bringing down installation times without it purely being a lets rush through with cutting corners,

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Tinkerisk

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#2084500 5-Sep-2018 19:20

I highly doubt, that 1Gb/s will not be throttled to 'up to 1Gb/s' when more people will get to UFB. It's just a question of time and bandwith calculation. When technology starts all bandwith is spreaded to the customers ... until, year until they get more.

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hio77

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#2084514 5-Sep-2018 19:32

Tinkerisk:

I highly doubt, that 1Gb/s will not be throttled to 'up to 1Gb/s' when more people will get to UFB. It's just a question of time and bandwith calculation. When technology starts all bandwith is spreaded to the customers ... until, year until they get more.

Technically it's not 1gbit, as the port itself is 1gbit. PPPoE overhead etc.

Your right, the consumer product chorus sell is predominantly burst rate. But so is their copper products, Chorus themselves look to keep their network congestion free.

Chorus themselves have already made it clear they are playing with 10GPON gear, it's the natural progression we will see as utilization increases.

Short of places like dunedin where we have gbit plans practically everywhere, it's rare you cant peg out. and even down there in the most data heavy areas, your still hitting pretty decent rates near enough to peak rate.

Gbit is never going to be a single user thing in NZ (ok, for IT there may be a few unique usecases but that's mainly in the upstream.) It's all about multiple users consuming content effortlessly.

Think it was year 2 or 3 that chorus dropped down to 16:1 splinters, lessening the load on the network itself when it grows too.

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Tinkerisk

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#2084525 5-Sep-2018 20:00

hio77:

Gbit is never going to be a single user thing in NZ (ok, for IT there may be a few unique usecases but that's mainly in the upstream.) It's all about multiple users consuming content effortlessly.

Think it was year 2 or 3 that chorus dropped down to 16:1 splinters, lessening the load on the network itself when it grows too.

Fair enough. I was just thinking loud to prevent technical misunderstandings. ;-)

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Ge0rge

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#2084565 5-Sep-2018 21:31

hio77:

... I'm one of those only option is copper customers afterall...

*sigh* Likewise. Can't do wireless and fibre will never come past my place. Waiting for 2022 to see if I can PtP from a friendly neighbor 900m up the road...

richms

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#2084569 5-Sep-2018 21:36

Good, since they will have more calls about faults with copper and people in NZ are so averse to paying for customer service and expect it all to be "free" - this should help with the people that wont go away and call every time it rains with a fault that spark have to log to chorus who then delay it till it is dry to go and look at it, all the time spark are providing mobile data to the customer.

Its not just about the port costs that chorus bill the ISPs. Hope the others follow along with the charges.

Richard rich.ms

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#2084594 5-Sep-2018 22:06

Luckily I am not with Spark as ADSL is the only option for me, no UFB and no Wireless.

There should be a rebate for those who have no other option.

Waiting for Dec 2019

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richms

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#2084607 5-Sep-2018 22:23

SATTV:

Luckily I am not with Spark as ADSL is the only option for me, no UFB and no Wireless.

There should be a rebate for those who have no other option.

Waiting for Dec 2019

Why a rebate? Does the lack of fiber make your copper suddenly work a lot better and have less faults?

Richard rich.ms

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#2084631 5-Sep-2018 23:26

richms:

SATTV:

Luckily I am not with Spark as ADSL is the only option for me, no UFB and no Wireless.

There should be a rebate for those who have no other option.

Waiting for Dec 2019

Why a rebate? Does the lack of fiber make your copper suddenly work a lot better and have less faults?

Absolutely not but why should ADSL customers be penalised when it is the only option?

I would gladly go to UFB but we drew the short straw and wont get it until 2020 ( I cant se us being connected by Dec 2019 )

Spark wireless is not available in my area.

So if I was with spark I would be forced to pay more as there is no other option ( other than changing RSP )

The bit that sucks and really pisses me off, I am in Auckland, 10 minutes to the city on a good run.

John.

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hio77

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#2084635 5-Sep-2018 23:47

i can often find things richard says as slightly direct, or maybe a little far.

But he's got in on the noise.

Copper connections are something like 3 times more likely to have faults each year.

a majority of fibre faults are easily diagnosed by tools provided that a far greater than is available for copper.

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Tinkerisk

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#2084641 6-Sep-2018 00:21

hio77:

Copper connections are something like 3 times more likely to have faults each year.

a majority of fibre faults are easily diagnosed by tools provided that a far greater than is available for copper.

Just for my understanding: in NZ, do you have the copper wires above or below ground? This would explain a huge difference in speed and reliabilty to here (all below ground).

hio77

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#2084643 6-Sep-2018 00:41

Tinkerisk:

Just for my understanding: in NZ, do you have the copper wires above or below ground? This would explain a huge difference in speed and reliabilty to here (all below ground).

Both. often both in tandem.

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Dingbatt

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#2084695 6-Sep-2018 08:22

What annoyed me at much as anything was the faux sympathy in the email "We get that price increases aren't much fun". Especially when there isn't any other viable option.
Ironically, we sit in a salient of copper only services, with the blue areas (fibre available) on the Chorus map literally only two or three blocks away.
And the "Fibre is coming" signs are up on the main road. At least the price increase should only affect me until mid 2019.
So until then I'll just keep ignoring the Spark texts urging me to up-spec my mobile account with them as a way to keep the 'fun' in the transaction........

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

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