Wheelbarrow01: I also know of cases where the pole was too decayed and dangerous for the Chorus tech to climb - resulting in a further months long wait for Wgtn Electricity to replace or make safe that pole.
I'm in a similar situation to this. Not quite as bad as your friends one by the sounds of it but Chorus still said the pole needs to be replaced before they'll install fibre. In the process of saving up for this unbudgeted expense.
Not liking the sound of the delays Wellington Electricity are putting into the system though.
