One NZ to retire HFC (cable) network

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › One NZ to retire HFC (cable) network

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stevec
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#3444974 17-Dec-2025 13:35

raytaylor: ... I love these stories. ...

The best stories I've heard about national provisioning were from Roger de Salis about building FX Networks. Sadly I can't easily find a potted history of that company. Things were never simple https://www.nbr.co.nz/fx-networks-chairman-dismisses-tax-exile-label/#:~:text=Roger%20de%20Salis , Initially built out from the NIMT fibre, then eventually sold to Vocus https://web.archive.org/web/20160816125704/http://www.smh.com.au/business/telecoms-provider-vocus-buys-nz-fibre-optic-networks-company-fx-networks-20140702-zstbk.html
It's a pity the cable-laying rail wagon can't be verified - it is a story that would be totally in the kaupapa of that fibre network.
Steve

billbennett

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#3444979 17-Dec-2025 13:44

SteveC:
raytaylor: ... I love these stories. ...
The best stories I've heard about national provisioning were from Roger de Salis about building FX Networks. Sadly I can't easily find a potted history of that company. Things were never simple https://www.nbr.co.nz/fx-networks-chairman-dismisses-tax-exile-label/#:~:text=Roger%20de%20Salis , Initially built out from the NIMT fibre, then eventually sold to Vocus https://web.archive.org/web/20160816125704/http://www.smh.com.au/business/telecoms-provider-vocus-buys-nz-fibre-optic-networks-company-fx-networks-20140702-zstbk.html
It's a pity the cable-laying rail wagon can't be verified - it is a story that would be totally in the kaupapa of that fibre network.
Steve

I remember that well. At the time I was still working for CommsDay so my local story was, in effect, a wrap: https://billbennett.co.nz/vocus-fx-networks/

Bill Bennett www.billbennett.co.nz @billbennettnz

Rickles

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#3444980 17-Dec-2025 13:44

As an aside, I see that real estate adverts still state that houses/apartments have DSL/ADSL internet connections 🤨

richms

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#3445002 17-Dec-2025 15:19

Rickles:

As an aside, I see that real estate adverts still state that houses/apartments have DSL/ADSL internet connections 🤨

That's a warning for people, like if it said it smelt like sewer gas.

Richard rich.ms

Rickles

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#3445005 17-Dec-2025 15:28

Well, I never! Seems there are around 78,000 DSL/ADSL/copper lines still in service around NZ.

Many telcos still advertise DSL/ADSL too, but note that OneNZ stopped in October this year.

wellygary

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#3445010 17-Dec-2025 16:03

Rickles:

Well, I never! Seems there are around 78,000 DSL/ADSL/copper lines still in service around NZ.

Many telcos still advertise DSL/ADSL too, but note that OneNZ stopped in October this year.

Yeah, but its falling pretty quickly, 230K in 2023, 150K in 2024, 70-80k 2025,

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raytaylor

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#3445016 17-Dec-2025 16:33

SteveC: The best stories I've heard about national provisioning were from Roger de Salis about building FX Networks.

I took over a fiber subdivision that he originally built about 10 years ago.
He is a real interesting guy.

I was buying bandwidth off FX and loved the fact that if you bought some international, they would just give you 1gbit on their network nationally for the cost of a port fee.
It was more expensive to rate shape the national port on the service so they didnt bother. In 5 years I think we had a total of about 5 minutes of downtime - it was incredibly reliable.

I believe the fiber up the railway lines was so that NZRail could use it for signalling so it was a joint venture between clear who would lay the fiber and NZRail who would own a couple of pairs for their own internal purposes.
I think NZRail actually had a significant share in clear originally.

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billbennett

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#3445049 17-Dec-2025 20:09

raytaylor:

I believe the fiber up the railway lines was so that NZRail could use it for signalling so it was a joint venture between clear who would lay the fiber and NZRail who would own a couple of pairs for their own internal purposes.
I think NZRail actually had a significant share in clear originally.

Who I interviewed is lost in the mists of time, but one thing I remember from talking to someone about that fibre was that they could detect the trains travelling up and down the North Island. Not with great accuracy, but enough to know if, say, they were likely to reach Hamilton on time.

Bill Bennett www.billbennett.co.nz @billbennettnz

SteveC

stevec
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#3445114 17-Dec-2025 23:09

billbennett:
Who I interviewed is lost in the mists of time, but one thing I remember from talking to someone about that fibre was that they could detect the trains travelling up and down the North Island. Not with great accuracy, but enough to know if, say, they were likely to reach Hamilton on time.

I cheated at this point ... the story I remembered from days of yore (actually, a Muldoon Think Big project, and maybe the only one that made some sense, in retrospect) was that the fibre was a necessary part of the NIMT electrification ... the cheating part was that found evidence! An academic article: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/51835 If, like me, you have access to IEEE databases, you'll be able to confirm that on this occasion Google's AI Overview is an accurate reflection of this article:
NZ Railways installed fibre optic cable alongside the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) primarily because the high voltages from the 25kV electrification "swamped" and rendered traditional copper communication lines useless due to electromagnetic interference, requiring a robust, non-metallic alternative for signaling, data, and operational communications, also creating a valuable telecommunications backbone for other uses.

Grunta47

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#3445134 18-Dec-2025 08:24

SteveC:

NZ Railways installed fibre optic cable alongside the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) primarily because the high voltages from the 25kV electrification "swamped" and rendered traditional copper communication lines useless due to electromagnetic interference, requiring a robust, non-metallic alternative for signaling, data, and operational communications, also creating a valuable telecommunications backbone for other uses.

Hi Steve
There are copper cables installed as part of the NIMT Electrification, being signalling and comms cables (for track phones and linking sites) along the entire route. The copper comms cable was a 26/28 pair and was fully shielded and earthed to large earth farms. Crossing loops (where trains pull into laybys) are about every 10-12km, so copper went into each comms room at a crossing loop, while fibre broke out every 2nd or 4th loop.

In regards to the plough on a train I'm 99.99% certain that FX never used this, perhaps trialled but never used. The logistics is huge, but the biggest issue is you have freight/passenger trains using the line, so if the plowtrain was in use it would have to move to a crossing loop to allow a train to pass through. Trains cannot back up on the NIMT without a special licence, so to get the plowtrain back to where it last stopped is also a huge undertaking. The plow on the train is just a big slab of metal hanging off the side of a carriage that uses brute force to get through the ground (a ditchwitch vibrating plow is more like a knife), so if there is anything in the way or near, it gets smashed. There is no way Rail would have allowed the plowtain near the NIMT. FX used the overhead out of Wellington, then a mixture of roads/rail everywhere else. In my younger days at Railways I worked on the plowtrain on 4 different Rail projects, so for a Telco to use this just makes no sense both logistically and commercially. This discussion has me remembering those days as had largely forgotten about that work. It was fun and the operator would sometimes let us operate the plow as the controls are much the same as an older trucks hiab. It was impressive to have a loco towing this plow and just push everything out of the way.....but it would still have hiccups/issues, as 2 ton blocks of rock/concrete stop everything.

Fibre network builds in NZ are an open book, all Telcos know what other Telcos are doing. Councils/NZTA require coordination between networks so nobody can do anything in secret. Even Rail have certain requirements to notify interested parties (ala, One NZ).

SteveC

stevec
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#3446825 24-Dec-2025 10:49

For anyone interested - a quick email to my One NZ account manager (jason.paris@one.nz) got mine and our neighbour's HFC house connections removed in about an hour!
I suspect that Christmas change embargo left the Downers Dudes without much work to do!
Now, about the ugly thick black cable between our telegraph poles (messing with the neigbour's lancewoods ...). Chorus copper should be been removed a few years ago!

All the best for the season everyone!
Steve

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billbennett

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#3446929 24-Dec-2025 12:54

SteveC: For anyone interested - a quick email to my One NZ account manager (jason.paris@one.nz) got mine and our neighbour's HFC house connections removed in about an hour!
I suspect that Christmas change embargo left the Downers Dudes without much work to do!
Now, about the ugly thick black cable between our telegraph poles (messing with the neigbour's lancewoods ...). Chorus copper should be been removed a few years ago!

All the best for the season everyone!
Steve

Some years ago I asked then Chorus CEO JB Rousselot if the company planned to recycle the copper. He said it didn't make economic sense. Then the price of copper soared on international markets so when I asked now Chorus CEO Mark Aue about exactly the same thing in November he said that it is now being recycled.

Bill Bennett www.billbennett.co.nz @billbennettnz

Bung

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#3446931 24-Dec-2025 12:58

If these poles are just for your properties are you sure the thick black cable isn't power?

Rickles

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#3450579 7-Jan-2026 15:46

I've just gone through the HFC replacement process, and apparently the Fibre Everyday connection won't be enabled for a few days yet.

Anyone know if the HFC connection ceases immediately the fibre one is deemed to be working, or is there a few days cross-over?

Linux

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#3450583 7-Jan-2026 15:56

Rickles:

I've just gone through the HFC replacement process, and apparently the Fibre Everyday connection won't be enabled for a few days yet.

Anyone know if the HFC connection ceases immediately the fibre one is deemed to be working, or is there a few days cross-over?

@Rickles Did you ask the representative you were dealing with at OneNZ?

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