I received a copper withdrawal notice in October or November last year for scheduled withdrawal this coming April, and have a pending order with Chorus for optical fibre installation. Their technician has advised that I need to pay a contractor to lay a conduit through my neighbour's property or else they will not be able to install fibre optic for my property. The quotes I have received from different contractors range from several contractors range from 3k to 6k.

Some people on Reddit have provided their inputs, saying that I should not have to bear the cost, quoting the Copper Withdrawal Code as follows:

    38. If, at any time after an end-user is provided a First Notice, the end-user places an order with a retail service provider for a connection to a fibre service to be installed, the end-user must have a connection to a fibre service installed:
    …
    38.2 at no cost to the end-user.

However, when I called Chorus this morning to bring their attention to the Code, they insisted that the Code does not apply to my case without explaining why. Chorus has also previously indicated that my copper service will be terminated in April regardless if I have made an attempt to upgrade, which seems to contradict what's said on their notice. My ISP, Skinny, has also said that my only options from April onwards are either optical fibre or no internet. 

Both Chorus and Skinny have not been helpful and, after learning that some members here actually work at Chorus, I have come here to seek help.

Could you share your thought on whether I should be responsible for the conduit cost?

Also, the Chorus technician did not mention the option of using the existing copper wire as a pullwire for installing the fibre. If you know the reason why this was not mentioned, could you share your thought?

Many thanks!