Ragnor: It's hard to tell how much of a difference it would make right now.

Have you checked if your area/address is going to get a cabinet?
http://www.telecomwholesale.co.nz/maps

If you got it done and it didn't make much difference right now it could still be useful for when your address gets cabineted or later in a year or so when VDSL2 becomes available. I believe VDSL2 will require a central splitter.