Fibre for the "sometimes there"

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Batman

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#293406 19-Jan-2022 10:52

the in laws are asking - they have fibre but are not always around as they move around a bit.

they would like to keep fibre.

is there an offering that can be on off/ prepay / pay if you use it?

i think they are on unplan (grandfathered spark plan) at the moment

thanks

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#2853245 19-Jan-2022 10:59

I think only a fully integrated telco that owns the fibre etc would reasonably do this as there are connection costs etc to pay to the LFC.

Jase2985

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#2853312 19-Jan-2022 11:45

go with a provider that has no contracts, cancel and join as needed.

nickb800

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#2853313 19-Jan-2022 11:45

The best options I've found for a bach which is occasionally occupied for a few weeks at a time are:

1) Spark $70 per month, no connection fee, no minimum term

2) Flip $14 per week, $25 setup fee, no minimum term

Could work for your in-laws depending on whether they know their travel movements in advance, and if each stint at home is for a decent time (i.e. several weeks)

quickymart

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#2853314 19-Jan-2022 11:46

Jase2985:

go with a provider that has no contracts, cancel and join as needed.

Voyager comes to mind, and they are very good. Do Skinny do this too?

Wheelbarrow01

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#2853382 19-Jan-2022 12:05

From a Chorus perspective there is no such solution in the works as far as I know, but it's something I have raised internally in the past - I was looking at it from the perspective of a bach owner.

In the town where my bach is, there are about 100 permanent residents but about 400 holiday homes, all of which have access to fibre at the gate. It seems a shame to me that there is an expensive network in that location that is currently very under utilised (less than 20%). I proposed a couple of options:

either a "bach plan" similar to Contact energy where bach owners could pay a lesser monthly charge for service if they already have full price fibre at home.
or a prepaid "I want fibre for 5 days" online signup sort of thing where an intact ONT exists. This could be quite complicated to setup as we'd have to open it up to all RSPs in the interests of fairness, and there'd have to be a centralised website where a customer can choose an RSP to connect through, and a router onsite compatible with all RSPs that can be connected with zero tech support or config changes - a potential minefield.....

The "bach plan" idea is something that might be considered in future but I fear it's low on the list of priorities from a Chorus marketing perspective. I'd suggest we're all about getting full time, full price connections online right now, but circling back and maximising subscriber numbers in low uptake areas such as holiday towns could potentially become a focus in future.

This is by no means an official position from Chorus - just my understanding from conversations I have been party to over time.

In the end I bit the bullet and got my bach connected on Skinny fibre back in November. I've seen a marked upswing in AirBnB bookings since then, which I can only attribute to the fact that we now offer WiFi and access to Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. Personally when I am there, TV and internet are barely used, but I can understand why visiting families with kids might see it as a godsend...

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

nickb800

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#2853390 19-Jan-2022 12:11

quickymart:

Jase2985:

go with a provider that has no contracts, cancel and join as needed.

Voyager comes to mind, and they are very good. Do Skinny do this too?

Voyager is $9 more per month than Spark (both offer no term and no connection fee). Skinny doesn't, they charge a connection fee and modem fee if you don't sign a 12 month term (can't join Skinny without getting one of their modems).

nickb800

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#2853403 19-Jan-2022 12:20

Wheelbarrow01:

From a Chorus perspective there is no such solution in the works as far as I know, but it's something I have raised internally in the past - I was looking at it from the perspective of a bach owner.

In the town where my bach is, there are about 100 permanent residents but about 400 holiday homes, all of which have access to fibre at the gate. It seems a shame to me that there is an expensive network in that location that is currently very under utilised (less than 20%). I proposed a couple of options:

either a "bach plan" similar to Contact energy where bach owners could pay a lesser monthly charge for service if they already have full price fibre at home.
or a prepaid "I want fibre for 5 days" online signup sort of thing where an intact ONT exists. This could be quite complicated to setup as we'd have to open it up to all RSPs in the interests of fairness, and there'd have to be a centralised website where a customer can choose an RSP to connect through, and a router onsite compatible with all RSPs that can be connected with zero tech support or config changes - a potential minefield.....

I'd imagine the first option would be a tough sell for RSPs, as all it takes is one support call and the profit margin for that connection has been wiped out for the year. Does help to reduce churn though (people stick with X ISP at their primary residence because they do a good deal for their bach - probably why Contact does their bach plan!).

If the built-in RGW in the more recent ONTs could be utilized, that would really help make your second idea work.

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Batman

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#2853409 19-Jan-2022 12:34

nickb800:

The best options I've found for a bach which is occasionally occupied for a few weeks at a time are:

1) Spark $70 per month, no connection fee, no minimum term

2) Flip $14 per week, $25 setup fee, no minimum term

Could work for your in-laws depending on whether they know their travel movements in advance, and if each stint at home is for a decent time (i.e. several weeks)

thanks i looked at the spark $85 300/100 with netflix basic - cheaper than their current unplan 900/500 (at that time the next tier was 100/20 which is too slow). didn't know you can connect and un connect

nztim

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#2853428 19-Jan-2022 13:14

Wheelbarrow01:

In the end I bit the bullet and got my bach connected on Skinny fibre back in November. I've seen a marked upswing in AirBnB bookings since then, which I can only attribute to the fact that we now offer WiFi and access to Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. Personally when I am there, TV and internet are barely used, but I can understand why visiting families with kids might see it as a godsend...

I attribute that purely to "There is internet" included - People want to be connected everywhere

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

coffeebaron

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#2853435 19-Jan-2022 13:21

Maybe if Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees all launch their wireless batch plans and all those ONTs go idle, then maybe Chorus will come up with a plan. But certainly understand the logistics of a system that would need to be able to disable /enable the connection several times a year.

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nztim

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#2853438 19-Jan-2022 13:31

coffeebaron: Maybe if Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees all launch their wireless batch plans and all those ONTs go idle, then maybe Chorus will come up with a plan. But certainly understand the logistics of a system that would need to be able to disable /enable the connection several times a year.

Any "Intact" connection (Fibre/Copper) can be remotely switched on within an hour on a business day - Its all the back end work that needs to be done to write the APIs for an end user to do this

I have activated an intact connection when I have stayed at a Bach (just 1 months service) but this is not something an end user can do

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

timmmay

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#2853482 19-Jan-2022 14:45

For short trips like this wireless seems like a better option if there's coverage. Get a 4G / Wifi adapter thingy.

nztim

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#2853543 19-Jan-2022 15:08

timmmay:
For short trips like this wireless seems like a better option if there's coverage. Get a 4G / Wifi adapter thingy.

Depends on the cap streaming uses alot

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dacraka

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#2853562 19-Jan-2022 15:46

nztim:
timmmay:

For short trips like this wireless seems like a better option if there's coverage. Get a 4G / Wifi adapter thingy.

Depends on the cap streaming uses alot

This would be my idea (pocket WiFi or just hotspot their phone which has a large enough data cap) - do you know how many GBs they would use/month?

Batman

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#2853637 19-Jan-2022 16:54

yea unfortunately very poor 4g signal

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