One NZ to retire HFC (cable) network

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stevec
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#3469120 11-Mar-2026 19:57

Just in case anyone is following our adventures,

Cable modem stopped working this morning. Apparently our 'non-standard' Chorus contractor idea of installing the ONT before the X53 had turned up triggered shutdown of the HFC.
X53 turned up middayish. Customer phoned the contractor who said he would come to install it.
That didn't happen - contractor forgot, apparently, so customer phoned a less-technically inclined sibling who lives closer.
Sibling went around after dinner and followed One NZ's instructions to install the X53.
Customer phoned from their fixed line to say everything is working!
Yea!

Ironically, the sibling drew the line at unplugging the UltraHub. Apparently it and the cable modem are still sitting there with all cables plugged in and various lights flashing. No worries! We will go get it one day. (I have some neighbours who I'm going to offer it to - another long story.)
So we had a very anxious and easily stressed customer who made it through, including navigating some unexpected bumps.
My key bit of advice for this situation is to slowly and carefully go through the options, what should happen and what the outcome should be. That worked for us.

Steve Cosgrove
Thirty years teaching Data Networking & Communication
Mostly at Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua About ten years before that in general PC support.

Available for contract networking (or other tech stuff) after 30 April 2026.

nzquiet1

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#3469287 12-Mar-2026 10:00

Rickles:

I wonder how many HFC customers 'gave up' and went to another ISP?

I'm sort of surprised that other ISP's don't seem to be trying to compete to take away the customers from One?? There just doesn't seem to be much in the way of competition in the broadband markets :-(

Andib

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#3469299 12-Mar-2026 10:29

nzquiet1:

I'm sort of surprised that other ISP's don't seem to be trying to compete to take away the customers from One?? There just doesn't seem to be much in the way of competition in the broadband markets :-(

I have to strongly disagree with this comment; we have more competition in the ISP space now than there ever has been.
The great thing about our UFB network is you can pretty much get the exact same product from any of the more than 80 ISPs that serve NZ. If you want a no-frills option, there are ISPs for you. If you want a full-service traditional ISP there's several providers that will happily sell you internet.

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boosacnoodle

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#3469302 12-Mar-2026 10:35

nzquiet1:

I'm sort of surprised that other ISP's don't seem to be trying to compete to take away the customers from One?? There just doesn't seem to be much in the way of competition in the broadband markets :-(

Not necessarily the case. I know of at least one person that received a sign-up bonus, as well as a bonus offer from Enable. Not all offers are published publicly, known as "BTL" (below-the-line) offers, for various reasons.

Eva888

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#3469303 12-Mar-2026 10:36

@SteveC

Cousins place, the Chorus man even removed the cables from modem to the lamp post. No idea what to do with the two modem/ routers and if they are meant to be returned or we keep them. When the changeover is finalised and they have more time, will ask if cabling can also be removed.

@dafman Thanks, no worries, all good.

MaxineN

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#3469304 12-Mar-2026 10:37

Andib:

nzquiet1:

I'm sort of surprised that other ISP's don't seem to be trying to compete to take away the customers from One?? There just doesn't seem to be much in the way of competition in the broadband markets :-(

I have to strongly disagree with this comment; we have more competition in the ISP space now than there ever has been.
The great thing about our UFB network is you can pretty much get the exact same product from any of the more than 80 ISPs that serve NZ. If you want a no-frills option, there are ISPs for you. If you want a full-service traditional ISP there's several providers that will happily sell you internet.

I strong agree and disagree :-).

There's very few that are actually innovating on how service is delivered. Take Vetta's sub brand Quic. It's self serviced(most of the time), has some very specific features such as rDNS, static v6 prefixes and even the ability to lease multiple v4 addresses and compute!

This is a much different take to everyone else in the consumer space, unless you're paying business pricing.

I agree that there are a lot of traditional ISPs. Some include bundling of services (mobile and/or power depending who you're looking at).

I disagree that you can get the same product. There are some that are innovating here.

I'm not even a Quic customer these days and I think Vetta are doing a lot right and different with Quic.

That's just my 2¢ as an ex one nzer :-)

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stevec
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#3469332 12-Mar-2026 11:06

Eva888:
@SteveC Cousins place, the Chorus man even removed the cables from modem to the lamp post. No idea what to do with the two modem/ routers and if they are meant to be returned or we keep them. When the changeover is finalised and they have more time, will ask if cabling can also be removed.
@dafman Thanks, no worries, all good.

LOL! I'd have loved it if the Dowers Dude who took our cables down would also remove the ugly Chorus copper, but that was never going to happen.
Very interesting that the Chorus Charmer (have you seen my scale?) took down the One NZ copper to the pole. No one is going to complain, given the network is being decommissioned.
With regard to the 'two modem/ routers' ... the modems (one with the screw-on cable that used to go to the pole) are no use to anyone now - take them to One NZ for free or other e-waste dropoff point.
The router might be useful to someone. My son has been using our old Ultrahub for a few years to extend the WiFi in his flat and I have some neighbours who will be able to use one being liberated by the HFC shutdown. In Pōneke the Sustainability Trust or Tip Shop might take it for resale, or anywhere someone on Freecycle might take it for reuse.

Steve Cosgrove
Thirty years teaching Data Networking & Communication
Mostly at Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua About ten years before that in general PC support.

Available for contract networking (or other tech stuff) after 30 April 2026.

Rickles

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#3469338 12-Mar-2026 11:21

>The router might be useful to someone. My son has been using our old Ultrahub for a few years to extend the WiFi in his flat<

Yes, they are great wifi extenders, and also useful as a cheap NAS because the USB port is network accessible.

Rickles

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#3469615 13-Mar-2026 09:46

Quick Question (for OneNZ) ...

I have friends on HFC who are overseas and still will be when their HFC goes dead.

They will not require an internet connection for a number of months thereafter, so will choose an ISP when they return.

What happens to their OneNZ account after the deadline?? Do they have to officially cancel or notify OneNZ, or does the account simply expire at the cut-off date?

MaxineN

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#3469637 13-Mar-2026 10:42

Rickles:

Quick Question (for OneNZ) ...

I have friends on HFC who are overseas and still will be when their HFC goes dead.

They will not require an internet connection for a number of months thereafter, so will choose an ISP when they return.

What happens to their OneNZ account after the deadline?? Do they have to officially cancel or notify OneNZ, or does the account simply expire at the cut-off date?

The service will still be withdrawn and disconnected at the date they have been given. The asset for the broadband will also be closed and they will have nothing except for any other additional services. The landline (if applicable) will also cease to exist too.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

Rickles

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#3469652 13-Mar-2026 12:17

On the matter of communication, I've just heard from an older couple (70's), who have only just got around to doing something about the HFC termination ... admittedly they had medical problems for a few weeks after Xmas, so OneNZ's advisory letters probably got put on the back burner.

The lady did call OneNZ about the change over, but told me that " ... they just talked too fast with a lot of noise in background". I did tell her to call again and ask the rep to slow down and speak as clear as possible due to hearing difficulties (she has no trouble hearing but that excuse often helps in such situations).

They are not sure what stage this is all at now, and considering tacking internet onto their Sky account. She says their Sky TV account has been fine, and even has a 'personal contact' at that organisation who had sorted an earlier billing problem.

As pointed out in other messages, telco's should be able to properly handle the few thousand NZ customers they wish to retain in better manner?

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netspanner

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#3469714 13-Mar-2026 14:14

Rickles:

The lady did call OneNZ about the change over, but told me that " ... they just talked too fast with a lot of noise in background". I did tell her to call again and ask the rep to slow down and speak as clear as possible due to hearing difficulties (she has no trouble hearing but that excuse often helps in such situations).

As pointed out in other messages, telco's should be able to properly handle the few thousand NZ customers they wish to retain in better manner?

This.

Nice friendly person on the other end, but the garble in the background made it really hard to hear what she was saying.

Its really not good enough when they are trying to tell you options and read out policies.

Its a real disservice to the workers and and the customers

Rickles

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#3470806 16-Mar-2026 11:41

Can anyone say just where on the planet the OneNZ call centre for the HFC change-over is actually located?

Distorter

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#3470831 16-Mar-2026 12:56

Rickles:

Can anyone say just where on the planet the OneNZ call centre for the HFC change-over is actually located?

In my experience it's just being shared across the existing. Got a couple of kiwis and a couple of Manila folks.

SteveC

stevec
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#3470839 16-Mar-2026 13:18

Distorter:
Rickles:
Can anyone say just where on the planet the OneNZ call centre for the HFC change-over is actually located?

In my experience it's just being shared across the existing. Got a couple of kiwis and a couple of Manila folks.

I'm only interested in what the CSR says and does. So far they have been excellent. Only the first bill to go and if that isn't up to scratch It'll be an email to jason.paris@one.nz which, I think, is handled by an office in Christchurch and has worked well for me.

Steve Cosgrove
Thirty years teaching Data Networking & Communication
Mostly at Whitireia Polytechnic, Porirua About ten years before that in general PC support.

Available for contract networking (or other tech stuff) after 30 April 2026.

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