Okura UFB instead of RBI Copper in 2015 – How to make it happen ?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Okura UFB instead of RBI Copper in 2015 – How to make it happen ?

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#1146708 3-Oct-2014 15:25

Clearly Okura is _no_ better than hundreds of other towns (in the way you mean).

But also clearly, most of those towns are lots further from fibre than 400 metres.

So, yes, it is simply a question of the line being drawn - to Okura's long-term disappointment.

I am not asking for an infinite pot of Government money - TANSTAAFL. Perhaps I'm looking for more transparency in decisions on the availability of what is a 'Public Good' and not simply a competitive, commercial offering. Why not show the economic realities on a map - to allow the country to understand them and perhaps to allow communities to 'top up' a shortfall - if that is seen as worthwhile ?

wellygary

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#1146714 3-Oct-2014 15:33

pdh: perhaps to allow communities to 'top up' a shortfall - if that is seen as worthwhile ?

It already happens, the Queenstown Lakes Council agreed to provide funds for Wanaka to get UFB when it missed the cut,
http://www.chorus.co.nz/wanaka-to-get-ultra-fast-broadband-in-2014

Get your local community together and approach Chorus with a proposal....

pdh

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#1147446 5-Oct-2014 00:14

Excellent - thanks for the Queenstown precedent.

Any idea how to find out the dollars by which one 'misses the cut' ?

Do I just ring up Chorus and ask ;-)

raytaylor

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#1147462 5-Oct-2014 02:54

pdh: "RBI Broadband > 5 Mbps between Jul-2015 and Jun-2016"

The alligator likes to open its jaws and eat the bigger number, therefore ">" means "At least"
So you can expect at least 5mbits

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sbiddle

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#1147479 5-Oct-2014 07:39

pdh: Excellent - thanks for the Queenstown precedent.

Any idea how to find out the dollars by which one 'misses the cut' ?

Do I just ring up Chorus and ask ;-)

If your community was to front up with somewhere in the vicinity of half a million at a minimum , Chorus could be keen to speak to you about expanding the UFB network as a commercial agreement.

If not, you'd be such a long way down a list (that doesn't even exist) that you're simply not going to get fibre. If you are however close to a cabinet once they are deployed, HSNS fibre services may be available if you're willing to pay for the install. If you're within a few hundred metres of the cabinet you'll potentially get an install for somewhere in the vicinity of $10k - $25k.

quickymart

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#1148720 6-Oct-2014 22:20

What is the population of Okura anyway?

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pdh

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#1148733 6-Oct-2014 23:02

Roughly 500.

Around 150 houses, kids fairly numerous, rest are couples from young to old and a few singles.

quickymart

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#1148767 6-Oct-2014 23:55

Okay. But as sbiddle points out - plenty of larger places would be ahead of you in the "queue" if any upgrades were going to happen - Kirwee comes to mind.

pdh

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#1148812 7-Oct-2014 01:21

I don't want to beat this to death - or come over as me-me-me ;-)

But maybe it's worth exploring my assumptions?

I understood (from sbiddle's helpful comment earlier on) that Okura was due to get fibre to cabinet(s) next year. I hadn't been expecting that - whoops & starjumps - so it pushed me to think further. If that expense (of laying 3+ km of new cable down into the village) is already on the plan, I was hoping that the extra cost from 'cabinet to door' was worth discussing.

Much of NZ is likely to have suburbs with about 1.5 houses per quarter acre section (allowing for infill). I was guesstimating that the cost of the cabinet-to-door work was going to be similar everywhere. Towns of 500 would be roughly half the cost of towns of 1000 and so on. It might not scale below 100 or above 5000 - but it was an assumption.

Obviously some places have much higher-density multi-unit housing (in Albany for example) - and they'd be low-hanging fruit, especially if populated by a young demographic keen to pay for the highest speeds possible. Much lower cost per person & a better return.

Maybe I'm out-to-lunch on the above; but if I'm not, then the prioritisation should be driven by size of community vs distance to reach it with fibre (Another assumption - cost is proportionate to distance). So, even sizable communities, far away from anywhere, will be way down such a list. If they're 20 x as far, they'll have to be 20 x as big to rate against a smaller but nearer target.

But then, after a community is reached, local distribution costs are equal per person and the only reasonable prioritisation is the density of the housing units - and possibly the profile of the customers (which may not be politically correct). So, a small town with fibre already in its cabinet is no worse on a cost/benefit basis than a big town with fibre - as long as they have roughly the same house density.

That was the basis for my comments about Okura having 150 houses within a 400m radius of the centre of town - to indicate that it was reasonably 'dense' (in the nicest possible way ;-). Not pleading 'special treatment' - just wondering why we weren't as good as the next ?

What am I missing here ?

quickymart

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#1149402 7-Oct-2014 18:52

Even if you got every single person in Okura to sign up, it still wouldn't even cover the installation costs of fibre to the town.

raytaylor

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#1149542 7-Oct-2014 21:56

pdh: Excellent - thanks for the Queenstown precedent.

Any idea how to find out the dollars by which one 'misses the cut' ?

Do I just ring up Chorus and ask ;-)

Chorus dont actually have a person to ask.
You would need to have the cash, put out a tender, and hope chorus decides to bid on it.

Or get permission from the city, and every resident, and approach the subdivision people and hope they could create a project.

I suspect the tender option would be more successful.

Ray Taylor

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quickymart

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#1151748 11-Oct-2014 10:33

So pdh, how's your proposal coming along?

Behodar

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#1151752 11-Oct-2014 10:47

There's also the issue of ISP handover; how many ISPs are likely to install equipment for 150 houses? (And that assumes that one ISP would get 100% of the market).