Rural Broadband Exchanges/RBI

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nigelj

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#75691 21-Jan-2011 18:02

I'm doing this as a spin off of the Sure Signal thread does anyone know where there is a list of exchanges that are classified Rural?

Additionally, does anyone know if the actual area of the Rural Broadband Initiative has been anonunced yet? (I'm aware there are 'zones' defined already as they are on the NZ Broadband Maps, but it seems impossible to tell if someone is getting UFB under RBI or under FTTH).

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#429615 21-Jan-2011 18:18

Here is a list of rural and non-rural exchanges

http://www.chorus.co.nz/f64,29799/UCLL_STD_PRICE_LIST_1_.pdf

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Behodar

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#429617 21-Jan-2011 18:28

*boggle*... how did they come up with that list? I'm in Whakatane which is apparently "rural" despite having almost 20k people...

At least Whakatane is definitely covered under the fibre rollout, so it's not the end of the world.

hairy1

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#429618 21-Jan-2011 18:38

It was decided using 100 darts and a map of New Zealand.... ;-)

It certainly doesn't seem to have a lot of logic to it but maybe I am missing something....

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#429619 21-Jan-2011 18:40

Supposedly there are a certain bunch of "non viable customers" that I think this was loosely based upon. But yea, one of the dumbest things the powers at be decided on.

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Behodar

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#429620 21-Jan-2011 18:48

It's still possible for ISPs to provide to "rural" customers though, isn't it? Just costs them more? I think I saw differently-priced urban and rural options when I was looking at Xnet's site a while back.

Come to think of it, "actual" rural customers (ie. the ones out of town) would probably get a worse service due to line length even though they pay more for it!

I already think it's bad enough that ISPs like TelstraClear only offer two speeds; 256 kb/s and "up to" 24 Mb/s. It's silly that I need to pay for 24 even though I only connect at 4 due to line length...

nigelj

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#429624 21-Jan-2011 19:07

hairy1: Here is a list of rural and non-rural exchanges

http://www.chorus.co.nz/f64,29799/UCLL_STD_PRICE_LIST_1_.pdf

Wow thanks.

My mind boggles here, the list of 'urban exchanges' includes: Kumeu/Whenuapai/Waitakere which cover a lot of rural area etc, yet Helensville which has a reasonably sized 'township' + Parakai + Rural isn't on the list?!? Also Waimauku, a lot of subdivisions there + Muriwai,

On the North-East, Warkworth has a decent population (although a bit of livestock) (I'd say more people than Kumeu), but definitely seems to be classed as 'rural'.

Behodar: It's still possible for ISPs to provide to "rural" customers though, isn't it? Just costs them more? I think I saw differently-priced urban and rural options when I was looking at Xnet's site a while back.

Come to think of it, "actual" rural customers (ie. the ones out of town) would probably get a worse service due to line length even though they pay more for it!

I already think it's bad enough that ISPs like TelstraClear only offer two speeds; 256 kb/s and "up to" 24 Mb/s. It's silly that I need to pay for 24 even though I only connect at 4 due to line length...

Many would try and argue thats the price of living in the country, in fact I believe (I can't personally verify this atm) that there are some people 2-3km further away from my exchange than I am (keep in mind, I'm about 4-4.5km cable distance away) that reckon they get better speed out of their connection because Telecom put some equipment on their street. Old green cabinet ~500m-1k away and I get no proposed upgrade to ADSL2 (or even a ADSL1 DSLAM thrown in to shorten the trip).

In fact, that's what should happen, throw some of the older ADSL1 equipment into the older cabinets so at least some of the rural people can get closer to say 8Mbps than 1Mbps until the RBI comes in.

Behodar

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#429627 21-Jan-2011 19:14

At the moment I'm probably 4-5 km from the main Whakatane exchange, but I'm still in the town area. There's apparently a cabinet going in nearby soon, although its location varies depending on who you ask. I'm looking forward to it :)

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simon14

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#429628 21-Jan-2011 19:19

Behodar: It's still possible for ISPs to provide to "rural" customers though, isn't it? Just costs them more? I think I saw differently-priced urban and rural options when I was looking at Xnet's site a while back.

Come to think of it, "actual" rural customers (ie. the ones out of town) would probably get a worse service due to line length even though they pay more for it!

I already think it's bad enough that ISPs like TelstraClear only offer two speeds; 256 kb/s and "up to" 24 Mb/s. It's silly that I need to pay for 24 even though I only connect at 4 due to line length...

I dont see whats wrong with this. It's really just an offer of a capped plan at 256kbps or a full speed plan as fast as your line can go.

The wholesale rates for the ISP are the same whether a customer is getting 24mbps right next door to the exchange or getting 1mbps 5km down the road.

sbiddle

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#429638 21-Jan-2011 20:01

The Commerce Commission decides what is urban and what is rural.

It's based upon a number of factors including population density.

hairy1

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#429653 21-Jan-2011 20:35

Is the rural designation reviewed at all? I am sure things change over time. Auckland's expansion springs to mind.

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webwat

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#429681 21-Jan-2011 21:43

The fibre rollout does not use the rural criteria related to old phone exchanges, its negotiated into contracts by CFH based on their original request for proposals. Thats buried somewhere in the MED website but will probably change anyway.

Some of the smaller ADSL1 DSLAMs are already in roadside cabinets, and it sounds like your neighbours got one of them.

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#429687 21-Jan-2011 22:01

Behodar: *boggle*... how did they come up with that list? I'm in Whakatane which is apparently "rural" despite having almost 20k people...

And Timaru is "rural", as it only has 27,000 people in the "city", and another 15,500 in small villages within a 35km radius.

So I wonder which city wins the prize for the highest population to be considered "non-urban"?

nigelj

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#429718 21-Jan-2011 23:47

IlDuce:
Behodar: *boggle*... how did they come up with that list? I'm in Whakatane which is apparently "rural" despite having almost 20k people...

And Timaru is "rural", as it only has 27,000 people in the "city", and another 15,500 in small villages within a 35km radius.

So I wonder which city wins the prize for the highest population to be considered "non-urban"?

I think the word you are after is town/township, city is normally only for 100k population as I recall.

But even if you don't fight over terms like that, how do we get reliable data? Census doesn't give us a rural v urban ratio, and the boundaries likely don't even match up with exchanges. Scrap that, while writing a separate bit of this post, I realised the numbers were well off, from what I'd consider the norm, especially around the Auckland area, looking at the boundary maps show some (in my opinion) major deviations from what many people would call certain regions of even Auckland. Maybe if NZ Post published some data based on the postcodes we'd have a better idea.

Behodar

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#429744 22-Jan-2011 07:17

simon14: The wholesale rates for the ISP are the same whether a customer is getting 24mbps right next door to the exchange or getting 1mbps 5km down the road.

I wasn't aware of that, but it does help to explain why I haven't seen any ISPs offering "middle ground" services (except for companies like TCL over its own network).

rygrass

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#429750 22-Jan-2011 07:47

What Taupo isn't even in there... yet it was one of the first to get FTTN finished with a population of 37,000+, wouldn't call it a small exchange building either.

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