Getting Fibre at Rural addresses not fair from a main city -- $$$??

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godber

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#3122032 30-Aug-2023 23:28

Just to give you another cost

Holiday home/farm (4ha), rural Coromandel, between Whenuakite and Coroglen

We had DSL but was very slow < 0.5Mbit as 6km from the Whenuakite exchange.

Telecom used to publish their fibre cable paths so I knew from around 2012 that there was a 12 core fibre cable on the other side of the road from us connecting two exchanges.

In 2014 I got an estimate of about $95,000 as there was no equipment (GPON OLT etc) in the exchange to connect to so we would have had to pay for it.

Then around 2020 Chorus put the necessary equipment (GPON OLT etc) in the Whenuakite Exchange for the Hahei/Cooks Beach UFB rollout.

Got a rough estimate in 2020 of $20,000, sat on the fence.

We finally decided early 2022 and knowing that there was only 2 spare fibres in the cable pressed ahead. The quote came in just under $25,000.

We use it to work from the farm about 6 weeks of the years and are there every second weekend, plus we rent it out on Bookabach so it gets used a bit.

While we could have used Starlink the ping and upload times are not as good as fibre. I also did some net present value calculations of the cost Starlink vs Fibre and after about 18 years fibre on a comparable speed plan is about the same cost as Starlink but after that is cheaper.

We agreed and paid. We got installed late October 2022.

We are on a gigabit plan but could have 4Gbps Hyperfibre if we wanted.

Very happy we paid for the install wish we had done it before lockdown as we could have worked from the farm for many many extra months.

Godfrey
Auckland/Coroglen, New Zealand
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meremaiden

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#3122075 31-Aug-2023 08:20

Chorusnz:

meremaiden:

WOOOOWW. 14K and it was right past your property? Oof. How does it work for you now? I think we'd probably be willing to spend that, but looking at the placement of the exchanges I reckon we would be in for much much more sadly. Thanks for your # - exactly the info I was after.

I'm no network planner, so I cant give you numbers unfortunately. Would highly recommend getting a Fibre on application request going at least to see what the cost would be. The quote comes with no obligation to follow through so its worth getting at least to see.

Buuuuut, I do have access to the Chorus Fibre database. If you want to flick us a private message with your address I could do some digging, find out what network we have in your location and at least give you a rough picture of what it may cost. - Richard

Thank you Richard-- very kind of you-- will be in touch when we know more.

meremaiden

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#3122080 31-Aug-2023 08:27

godber:

Just to give you another cost

Holiday home/farm (4ha), rural Coromandel, between Whenuakite and Coroglen

We had DSL but was very slow < 0.5Mbit as 6km from the Whenuakite exchange.

Telecom used to publish their fibre cable paths so I knew from around 2012 that there was a 12 core fibre cable on the other side of the road from us connecting two exchanges.

In 2014 I got an estimate of about $95,000 as there was no equipment (GPON OLT etc) in the exchange to connect to so we would have had to pay for it.

Then around 2020 Chorus put the necessary equipment (GPON OLT etc) in the Whenuakite Exchange for the Hahei/Cooks Beach UFB rollout.

Got a rough estimate in 2020 of $20,000, sat on the fence.

We finally decided early 2022 and knowing that there was only 2 spare fibres in the cable pressed ahead. The quote came in just under $25,000.

We use it to work from the farm about 6 weeks of the years and are there every second weekend, plus we rent it out on Bookabach so it gets used a bit.

While we could have used Starlink the ping and upload times are not as good as fibre. I also did some net present value calculations of the cost Starlink vs Fibre and after about 18 years fibre on a comparable speed plan is about the same cost as Starlink but after that is cheaper.

We agreed and paid. We got installed late October 2022.

We are on a gigabit plan but could have 4Gbps Hyperfibre if we wanted.

Very happy we paid for the install wish we had done it before lockdown as we could have worked from the farm for many many extra months.

Great intel and experience thank you! What did you mean by 2 spare fibres--- how does that work?

godber

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#3122194 31-Aug-2023 12:41

meremaiden:

Great intel and experience thank you! What did you mean by 2 spare fibres--- how does that work?

The cable across the road from us has 12 individual fibre strands in the cable.

Chorus was/is using 9 or 10 of these strands for other purposes.

To put in the infrastructure at our location they need 1 or preferably two strands available.

It is not sufficient that there is a cable near you it needs to be the right type and have spare capacity (individual fibre strands) available.

There is a great video at https://vimeopro.com/chorusnz/chorus-training/video/230399471 that shows how it is done. You can see how the costs add up.

My installation was similar (except it was dry).

Godfrey
Auckland/Coroglen, New Zealand
Quic Broadband - 4G Hyperfibre

Referral Link:
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nztim

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#3122201 31-Aug-2023 13:15

godber:

There is a great video at https://vimeopro.com/chorusnz/chorus-training/video/230399471 that shows how it is done. You can see how the costs add up.

My installation was similar (except it was dry).

That video really demonstrates how even if fibre is "outside your gate" how it can cost 10-20k all the labour and materials involved

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

juliant

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#3123493 4-Sep-2023 12:11

Can I ask what distance it was from the street to the actual house-connection point

Got a leaflet saying fibre is being laid in our street (slightly rural) next month

Unfortunately our house (and the other 3 near us) are 500 - 1000 metres from the street

I thought I read somewhere that if it is free up to 200 metres, then you can multiply that per house - so 4 houses would get you 800 metres although not sure if all houses would be interested.

Also it might be possible to just run the cable along the fenceline? or we could dig a shall trench ourselves? Is the actual fibre optic cable itself expensive?

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nztim

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#3123495 4-Sep-2023 12:25

juliant:

Got a leaflet saying fibre is being laid in our street (slightly rural) next month

Unfortunately our house (and the other 3 near us) are 500 - 1000 metres from the street

Once they withdraw copper in your area the Installation will become free - a $50000 install cost became free when copper was withdrawn at an address in Miramar

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

juliant

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#3123500 4-Sep-2023 12:49

Thanks for that. At the momennt we still have copper although we switched to Starlink but would be nice to get same performance (or better) for half the price).

Nearby farmer has subdivided so a few more lifestlye properties will be cropping up along the road (they will be well within 200 metres of the roadside). Maybe that was a factor in putting fibre in. I had no idea it was going to happen this soon

Any way of knowing when they will do away with copper or do they do it as soon as fibre is in? I know Chorus have had to spend a lot of time fixing issues with the copper lines along the road (we've had them around several times in the few years we've been here) so they might be keen to deal

quickymart

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#3124915 8-Sep-2023 08:50

Every area is being done at different timeframes. I think Chorus have a map showing when copper will be withdrawn in a specific area.

Behodar

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#3125009 8-Sep-2023 14:52

quickymart:

Every area is being done at different timeframes. I think Chorus have a map showing when copper will be withdrawn in a specific area.

The map is here.

juliant

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#3125012 8-Sep-2023 15:05

Not sure how up to date Chrous keeps these things. My ISP said there was no indication that our street was getting fibre and yet it is happening right now. No indication on the map that copper is being withdrawn in our area

Will not be good if they did withdraw copper and yet only present us with the option of spending $$$ to get fibre 800 metres up our shared driveway

In that scenario would either just go to rural celluer broadband as the neighbour does or maybe stay with Starlink

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Behodar

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#3125013 8-Sep-2023 15:07

To be clear, fibre installation and copper withdrawal are completely separate things (although will always occur in that order). Fibre was installed in my street in 2014 and there's no withdrawal scheduled yet.

quickymart

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#3125024 8-Sep-2023 15:39

juliant:

Not sure how up to date Chrous keeps these things. My ISP said there was no indication that our street was getting fibre and yet it is happening right now. No indication on the map that copper is being withdrawn in our area

Will not be good if they did withdraw copper and yet only present us with the option of spending $$$ to get fibre 800 metres up our shared driveway

In that scenario would either just go to rural celluer broadband as the neighbour does or maybe stay with Starlink

If fibre is made available at your address but your driveway is indeed 800m long, you would be incurring an additional cost - I believe the standard install covers up to 200m.

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#3125267 9-Sep-2023 11:08

quickymart:

If fibre is made available at your address but your driveway is indeed 800m long, you would be incurring an additional cost - I believe the standard install covers up to 200m.

Now yes, but once copper withdrawal takes place then they must provide the install free as outlined in the Copper withdrawal code. This applies to standard and non-standard installs.

The example I gave above was 400M from the road and 50k cost, that was scoped and priced in 2017, fast forward to 2022 when they withdrew copper in Miramar the install was free.

In staying that Chorus have now stopped selling new copper connections in areas where Fibre is available, so if you wanted to connect now and they try to charge you for a fibre install, you can probably argue my install has to be free.

I would move fast though, once copper withdrawal is completed any premises not connected to fibre possibly will be charged to get connected (I am thinking of all the users on 4G Wireless in fibre areas)

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

juliant

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#3125366 9-Sep-2023 15:50

I made some enquiries with the firm laying the fibre (not Chorus). They said the only way it would be free of charge for 800 metres is if it is above ground which is feasible as it could follow the fenceline all the way along. They also said if we wanted to lay it underground ourselves they would provide the cable and ducting free.

There are 4 dwellings along the 800 metre shared driveway so I assume they are basing it on 200 metres x 4 dwellings = 800 metres

I assume the fibre company would still have to do the connections from the shared driveway to each dwelling which would involve in some cases going under the driveway and then connecting to the house? Not clear if this is also free or if we would have to do it ourselves (at least the cable laying part)

We in fact at the moment dont have a copper connection as we switched to starlink a few months ago. We were thinking of going back to copper but in light of what you said maybe we should wait:

Then when the fibre along the road is completed, we can say we want an internet connection and fibre is the only option available. Having said that I cant see this outfit doing that unless they get additional compensation (does Chorus pay them extra?)

The other way of looking at it is we should get a copper connection now if we can as it sounds like we wont be able to once its laid (although give work is underway it is probably too late?) All depends on how confident we can be of getting it free as per the Miramar example

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