Did Chorus increase the broadband speeds again across all plan?

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#3489301 10-May-2026 04:43

networkn:

It's crazy the value we get in NZ on internet connections.

No-one in their right mind could continue referring to our internet as third world. We would be up there amongst the fastest in the world for home users for sure.

We have come a long way from dial up and ADSL.

More like a bit above average value. New Zealand broadband is really rather decent rather than something crazy or amazing

Currently I’m paying one sort of amazing (NZ$215 a month for 1Gb) and in a couple of months I’ll be paying the other sort (NZ$53 a month for 10Gb.)

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#3489934 11-May-2026 16:59

Bluntj:

networkn:

It's crazy the value we get in NZ on internet connections.

No-one in their right mind could continue referring to our internet as third world. We would be up there amongst the fastest in the world for home users for sure.

We have come a long way from dial up and ADSL.

Dialup used to keep increasing in speed as technology advanced. It used to be exciting haha

I just missed the acoustic coupler era... feel like I missed out! I do vaguely remember something about setting up UUCP on a Hayes Smartmodem.

MichaelNZ

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#3489943 11-May-2026 17:40

I concur with @networkn

The fact I can sit at home in a rural area on a 1Gbps symmetrical fibre - upgradeable to 4Gbps if I wanted - is amazing.

I work in the internet industry and engage in forums with people in other english speaking countries and there is nothing else I have seen which comes close to what we have in terms of all of the following: reliability, speed, coverage.

Anyone who needs confirmation of this zoom in the InternetNZ Broadband Map and have a look how many addresses have been able to get connected to the network and how rural and nowhere some of them are.

And that map is out of date. Our address doesn't yet show as having fibre. This is something InternetNZ is working on with Chorus.

This does not change my point of view that our township should have been rolled out and that 95% coverage is a goal the government should support.

But looking at the wider picture NZ Inc. is way ahead of any other comparable country. This is not national bias. It literally is the case the UFB is something NZ has managed to do well at.

Literally everyone I talk to in the Australian internet industry wishes their country had done the same as here in the fibre rollout. Their NBN (equivalent) is a hybrid network including satellite and cable.

Out of area (like we are) and want a quote? Friend of mine advises me NBN is $3,000 just to get a price to get connected. Chorus has been doing this for free, for now.

The USA is full of tiny ISP's each trying to claim local towns for themselves which in most cases is wireless. Even where fibre has been rolled out its provider specific. No free choice for you, the client.

In the UK they did have a fibre rollout but its a lot less comparable coverage then ours and those out of area are getting quoted massive prices compared to what we (and others I know) paid Chorus.

And I haven't even mentioned the Philippines which is another country I have spent time in.

Handle9

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#3489956 11-May-2026 18:28

Approximately 90% of the premises in the UK have access to gigabit internet with over 80% being FTTP.

Theres a lot more places in the world than just those who have English as their primary language. NZ has very good internet, lots of other places have better.

MichaelNZ

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#3489958 11-May-2026 18:31

Handle9:

NZ has very good internet, lots of other places have better.

City States like Singapore are not a relevant comparison because of high population in a small area.

Plenty of property for sale in Japan with photos and I have not seen any which have fibre leading me to conclude its likely a major city thing. But again not a good comparison for the same reason.

UK is the closest to us.

Handle9

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#3489962 11-May-2026 18:39

MichaelNZ:

Handle9:

NZ has very good internet, lots of other places have better.

City States like Singapore are not a relevant comparison.

Plenty of property for sale in Japan with photos and I have not seen any which have fibre leading me to conclude its likely a major city thing. But again not a good comparison.

Go and look at any global internet speed ranking. New Zealand sits around the upper quartile. Japan is always higher.

There’s nothing magical about having fibre, it’s just a technology that gives you access to fast internet.

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MichaelNZ

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#3489965 11-May-2026 18:46

Handle9:

Go and look at any global internet speed ranking. New Zealand sits around the upper quartile. Japan is always higher.

Geekzone users are the most passionate group when it comes to Speed Test. I can't think of any other demographic who is that interested.

But FWIW I get a very decent speed test to both USA and Australia which are the international destinations I run most tests to.

Working at an ISP and looking across a normal customer distribution this is what people care about: Reliability, customer service, and availability of fibre.

Handle9

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#3489968 11-May-2026 18:49

MichaelNZ:

Handle9:

Go and look at any global internet speed ranking. New Zealand sits around the upper quartile. Japan is always higher.

Geekzone users are the most passionate group when it comes to Speed Test. I can't think of any other demographic who is that interested.

But FWIW I get a very decent speed test to both USA and Australia which are the international destinations I run most tests to.

Working at an ISP and look across a normal customer distribution this is what people care about: Reliability, and availability of fibre.

Speed test is a normalised metric we can use to assess different countries internet services. It’s a damn sight more reliable a metric than “reckons about countries I’ve seen pictures of or been to.”

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#3489980 11-May-2026 19:59

MichaelNZ:

Handle9:

Go and look at any global internet speed ranking. New Zealand sits around the upper quartile. Japan is always higher.

Geekzone users are the most passionate group when it comes to Speed Test. I can't think of any other demographic who is that interested.

But FWIW I get a very decent speed test to both USA and Australia which are the international destinations I run most tests to.

Working at an ISP and looking across a normal customer distribution this is what people care about: Reliability, customer service, and availability of fibre.

I'm not sure what the point of this tangent is, but this is a classic display of lack of global perspective that us Kiwis are famous for.

Other countries around the world have similar topography and population distribution to NZ. Examples include Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, and in some of those cases, it's more challenging. In fact, many of these places have Internet which is faster, cheaper, or both.

It's impressive, but we are not alone or even exceptional. This is how fibre optic networking is expected to function. We received existing, mature technology and deployed it. There are plenty of Europeans just as enthusiastic as us.

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#3489986 11-May-2026 20:15

Obviously I don't know about everywhere...

But I do participate in industry forums and obviously these are stacked with people from english speaking countries. And of these we compare very favourably.

Also be aware a lot of the seemingly 'cheap' global options are tied in with a specific ISP. Its pretty much a universal rule no competition means lesser service. And this often translates to poorer outcomes even if the headline speed is claimed to be great and cheap.

tccki:

but this is a classic display of lack of global perspective that us Kiwis are famous for.

And on the topic of Chorus being all round awesome I had a line fault on Saturday a few months ago and reported it around mid day. The tech came out and fixed it - an hour's drive each way - and I was back up and running by 5pm. The same day. On a Saturday.

Good luck getting that anywhere else.

I have literally experienced while overseas complaining for months.

Good luck complaining to an incumbent in a actually-not-competitive-in-reality jurisdiction.

I literally don't care if someone gets a gig for half the price elsewhere. Measured against my time and end user sanity its still a fair deal.

Our local LFC's are solid and staffed by people who are are 2 degrees of separation from the clients. Some of them even post here. This is not usual by world standards.

This is discussed in an international context more times then I can count. Doesn't matter the brand or country - its the same story. End user gets offered a gig for $29/month by a company who has a monopoly. It often turns out mediocre or poorly for them.

The grass is not greener.

Handle9

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#3489991 11-May-2026 20:27

@MichaelNZ if you are going to quote someone please quote the what they said not someone else.

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tccki

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#3489992 11-May-2026 20:28

MichaelNZ:

Obviously I don't know about everywhere...

But I do participate in industry forums and obviously these are stacked with people from english speaking countries. And of these we compare very favourably.

Also be aware a lot of the seemingly 'cheap' global options are tied in with a specific ISP. Its pretty much a universal rule no competition means lesser service. And this often translates to poorer outcomes even if the headline speed is claimed to be great and cheap.

Handle9:

but this is a classic display of lack of global perspective that us Kiwis are famous for.

And on the topic of Chorus being all round awesome I had a line fault on Saturday a few months ago and reported it around mid day. The tech came out and fixed it - an hour's drive each way - and i was back up and running by 5pm. The same day. On a Saturday.

Good luck getting that anywhere else.

I have literally experienced while overseas complaining for months.

Good luck complaining to an incumbent in a actually-not-competitive-in-reality jurisdiction.

I literally don't care if someone gets a gig for half the price elsewhere.

That is my point. Even if you were to spend 100% of your time browsing forums, your accounts are still entirely anecdotal.

No luck needed. There are regions around the world that run a similar structurally-separate shared FTTH infrastructure model to NZ, that provide just as good a service as Chorus and our RSPs, for a similar (or better) price. Sweden is a prime example of this.

NZ actually pales in comparison to others with respect to wholesale services. I'm surprised this escaped a self-proclaimed industry expert like yourself.

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#3489993 11-May-2026 20:29

Handle9:

@MichaelNZ if you are going to quote someone please quote the what they said not someone else.

Fixed the quoting error and my apologies.

yitz

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#3490152 12-May-2026 15:47

Handle9:

More like a bit above average value. New Zealand broadband is really rather decent rather than something crazy or amazing

Currently I’m paying one sort of amazing (NZ$215 a month for 1Gb) and in a couple of months I’ll be paying the other sort (NZ$53 a month for 10Gb.)

I remember like 12 years ago NZ had these sorts of press releases re Gigatown Now we often hear on these forums 100/20 as being all you need.
https://www.nokia.com/customer-success/starhub-and-nokia-upgrade-broadband-fixed-access-network-to-deliver-nationwide-10-gbps-services/

Is our XGS-PON limited to 2/4/8 Gbps and not 10/50 Gbps due to distance configuration? Kinda reminds me of when Telecom gave the excuse of rate limiting ADSL so people further out from the exchange could get it.

Also should Chorus be allowed to retail XGS-PON/Hyperfibre?

MichaelNZ

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#3490154 12-May-2026 15:57

yitz:

Is our XGS-PON limited to 2/4/8 Gbps and not 10/50 Gbps due to distance configuration? Kinda reminds me of Telecom gave the excuse of rate limiting ADSL so people further out from the exchange could get it.

Chorus has has trialed 25Gbps but the reality on the ground is there is very little marketplace demand.

What Telecom did years ago with ADSL is not relevant anymore. Our connection is run around 21km and there are plenty of UFB connections showing on the Broadband Map which are likely to be long feeds.

Whats available to an address depends on the feeder exchange and the ONT installed. We have a 210-type (Hyperfibre) ONT and run from Dannevirke so can have 4Gbps. There are other equally remote connections which got lucky and they can have 8Gbps.

Working in the industry from back when Telecom and Frame Relay / DDS were things, and getting quotes to do UFB installs and looking into 'situations', I can confidently say Chorus is not Telecom of old.

Chorus wants to connect people to UFB and the more, the merrier.

XGS-PON tops out at 10G afaik but the network can go upwards by adding different line cards which work with different wavelengths of light.

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