Wellington UFB rollout begins

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freitasm

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#89338 31-Aug-2011 11:44

Just received:

Capital gets ultra fast broadband

The roll out of ultra fast broadband (UFB) in the Wellington region is now underway.

The Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Steven Joyce, this morning joined with Chorus to deploy the first UFB-enabling network in the Lower Hutt suburb of Kelson this morning.

“9,200 premises will be passed with new fibre in the year to June 2012. By July next year the UFB rollout will be continuing in earnest across most of the region,” says Mr Joyce.

The deployment will cover a population of almost 390,000 as well as 7,900 business premises, more than 80 schools and more than 1,500 medical and other healthcare services.
In addition, over 1,100km of Chorus’ existing business fibre network in the region will be available at UFB prices to priority users (businesses, schools & health facilities) by Quarter 4. In total, between the existing fibre and new fibre, around 29,000 priority users and homes in the Wellington region will be passed by 30 June 2012.

The first suburbs off the blocks in Wellington will be Kelson, Churton Park, Papakowhai, Aotea, Whitby, Mana, Camborne and Plimmerton. Deployment will also soon get underway in Central Masterton in the Wairarapa, including premises north of Chapel Street.

Mr Joyce says the barriers of distance and time will be almost completely removed by the UFB.

“Fibre with ultra fast capability will mean business people, innovators and entrepreneurs in our capital city will have a platform from which to compete with anyone anywhere in the world.

"Ultra-fast broadband provides opportunities for businesses to work in new ways, schools to connect students to resources around the globe, and for specialist medical expertise to be available in more places through technologies like high-definition video conferencing.

“Because we’re delivering fibre to the door, ultra-fast speeds will also be available at home, driving increased connectivity and access to new media and applications.

"The fibre-optic network will be open to retailers on equal terms, boosting market competition.

”Wholesale prices will be as low as half the price of current offerings for business services and residential customers will enjoy a vastly improved service for as much as they currently pay, or less,” says Mr Joyce.

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#514371 31-Aug-2011 11:51

I really want to know what this means...

"Mr Joyce says the barriers of distance and time will be almost completely removed by the UFB."

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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#514379 31-Aug-2011 12:00

Talkiet: I really want to know what this means...

"Mr Joyce says the barriers of distance and time will be almost completely removed by the UFB."

Cheers - N

ZOMG, the UFB is a TARDIS!

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Ragnor

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#514430 31-Aug-2011 12:54

Talkiet: I really want to know what this means...

"Mr Joyce says the barriers of distance and time will be almost completely removed by the UFB."

Cheers - N

When do politicians, sales and marketing departments and accountants ever make coherent statements about any form technology

.. but hey with fibre your connection rate doesn't degrade massively the further you are from the exchange and latency is lower than over copper.

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#514436 31-Aug-2011 12:58

The minister has been watching this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd5nfhZo57w

See 2:30 - the minister understands fibre and the technology better than most and farmers will benefit.

I'm not sure how the rail minster is going to feel... oh, hold on, it's the same minister for transport isn't it?!

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#514440 31-Aug-2011 13:04

Talkiet: I really want to know what this means...

"Mr Joyce says the barriers of distance and time will be almost completely removed by the UFB."

Cheers - N

Didn't you know that he's also got patents on a replacement for TCP?

freitasm

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#514445 31-Aug-2011 13:15

That's because UFB is actually the embryo of technology used in the Warp Drive... I think Zefram Cochrane will use it as the basis for his invention.

D1023319

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#514520 31-Aug-2011 15:17

Did anyone see the column in DomPost Infotech on Monday that talked about UFB rollout.
Was to effect that Telecom / Chorus has incentive to rollout to areas first where Telstra is as this is where they lack market share.

Dont get me wrong - I support UFB - I just dont know if there will be competition to drive UFB prices down should Telstra ever quite market nor do I understand why Telstra didnt compete for the UFB business?

[Moderator edit (MF): removed bad company name]

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iistudio

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#514564 31-Aug-2011 16:22

Probably still very early to ask but
who will be the retailer for fibre?
when will the retail plans be ready for residential customers?

thanks

Screeb

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#514639 31-Aug-2011 18:47

Hmm, isn't that odd, the areas being done first are areas without TelstraClear cable... funny that. Pure coincidence I'm sure. I guess Alan Freeth will have 9 more years before he'll start shaking in his boots.

Zeon

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#514654 31-Aug-2011 19:26

iistudio: Probably still very early to ask but
who will be the retailer for fibre?
when will the retail plans be ready for residential customers?

thanks

Most ISPs will be retailing fibre as they do now. Not sure about for retail, depends on the ISP. You can allready get access but its quite expensive as current pricing is aimed at businesses.

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#514781 1-Sep-2011 01:12

D1023319: Did anyone see the column in DomPost Infotech on Monday that talked about UFB rollout.
Was to effect that Telecom / Chorus has incentive to rollout to areas first where Telstra is as this is where they lack market share.

Dont get me wrong - I support UFB - I just dont know if there will be competition to drive UFB prices down should Telstra ever quite market nor do I understand why Telstra didnt compete for the UFB business?

[Moderator edit (MF): removed bad company name]

Telstraclear did not put a bid in to become the LFC (local fibre co) for any areas as they weren't willing to separate their business.

Telecom are de-merging Chorus as in it will become a totally separate company, not a subsidiary and not majority owned by Telecom. Vertical separation of retail and wholesale network services was is a key goal of the UFB (history has shown vertically integrated monopolies are bad).

Chorus did not win all areas!

Any ISP will be able to purchase wholesale services from the LFC in each reason as the already published rates. It's not too difference from now where ISP's purchase Telecom wholesale services to provide ADSL.

D1023319

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#514934 1-Sep-2011 11:02

Chorus did not win all areas!

True - but as there is only one LFC in each area - does that not mean they are a monopoly?

Any ISP will be able to purchase wholesale services from the LFC in each reason as the already published rates. It's not too difference from now where ISP's purchase Telecom wholesale services to provide ADSL.

I wasnt thinking about competition in retail selling - rather in the LFC area
While LFC prices are regulated,

- wheres the incentive to drive LFC prices down over time?

- will alternative LFC providers be able to enter the market once the current incumbents are established. Whats to stop them doing as Telecom did to Saturn (e.g only drop prices in areas where alternative providers are trying to setup)?

DonGould

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#514952 1-Sep-2011 11:21

D1023319: True - but as there is only one LFC in each area - does that not mean they are a monopoly?

Yes it is. So we also need a range of smart consumers to choose alternative providers based on needs. We also need to support those guys in providing services.

So we need to push the smaller wireless guys to keep expanding their networks. (Disclosure: I have a vested interest in that - but it doesn't make it any less true).

We also need to keep pushing other fibre companies to keep pushing more fibre closer to the consumer.

- wheres the incentive to drive LFC prices down over time?

See above. The incentive will come from the risk of letting the wireless and other providers get to much traction. If the LFC doesn't keep adding value then the wireless and other fibre guys will. If the wireless guys can see that they can deliver more capacity at a lower cost and still make an acceptable ROI, then they will.

- will alternative LFC providers be able to enter the market once the current incumbents are established. Whats to stop them doing as Telecom did to Saturn (e.g only drop prices in areas where alternative providers are trying to setup)?

Nothing. If consumers in less urban areas want better pricing then they're going to have to do more to support more providers, competition and choice. (Disclosure: Again, I have a vested interest in that, but again, it doesn't make it any less true).

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#515044 1-Sep-2011 13:26

- will alternative LFC providers be able to enter the market once the current incumbents are established. Whats to stop them doing as Telecom did to Saturn (e.g only drop prices in areas where alternative providers are trying to setup)?

A national/region fibre network is an infrastructure natural monopoly like power lines, water pipes and roads. Generally no one really wants two water pipes, two power lines and two fibre lines to their premises (except maybe some buisiness who want two connections for redundancy). People especially don't like seeing their local roads dug up multiple times.

Basically with a "natural monopoly" lower cost is achieved by having larger scale.. as long as regulation/policy doesn't let the monopoly get away with ridiculous pricing.

The Telstraclear cable network won't disappear but when was the last time Telstraclear significantly expanded coverage.... in theory Telstraclear in the cable area could offer lower prices than ISP's offering fibre but when have you ever seen Telstraclear offer prices lower then Orcon/Slingshot/Vodafone/Xnet for example.

If it's done right the business case for building/maintaining a competing network won't stack up vs buying services from the LFC at their pricing..

There is nothing stopping people from trying though, there will always be niche's to fill.

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#523913 21-Sep-2011 10:18

Does anyone know if Chorus have a map or spreadsheet available for their intended install dates for regions around Wellington?

I am hoping it will be similar to their cabinet upgrade process although likely to move much more slowly.

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