[Snap] Snap no-go in Palmerston North

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › [Snap] Snap no-go in Palmerston North - what's the guts?

jonathan18

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#123502 9-Jul-2013 21:45

Hi there,

We've been with Snap a few months now - signed up for a one year ADSL contract with them on the clear statement that they would soon be offering UFB in Palmerston North, and that they wouldn't charge a contract break fee to switch from ADSL to UFB (only one of two that promised this, the other being Telecom).

So... the story has been from day one that the time-frame for providing UFB in PN was "by the end of the second quarter of 2013". Every few weeks I've called them and been given the same story. And this is right up until the end of June. The story only changed once we entered this new quarter!

Two things I hope the Snap representative(s) that frequent this forum can answer, as I've had no luck getting answers to these questions from the call centre (who are otherwise very helpful):

1. What is the reason for the hold-up? Is it caused by Snap or Chorus? (considering we were one of the first streets in PN to have fibre to the door well over a year ago, and that Orcon's been offering it for nearly all that time, it's not like the main infrastructure's not in place).

2. Can you provide me with a new time-frame that I can expect to be able to sign up for UFB?

I see from Chorus' search tool that Telecom and Vibe offer UFB to our address (and Orcon, but that's not an option given our earlier dealings with them), but gven that we still have about eight months of our contract with Snap to go, we're stuck with ADSL for the near future UNLESS Snap comes to the party, or they accept that we acted in good faith on the information they provided us (as we only did it on the belief we would have UFB by now) and let us out of our contract.

Appreciate your response, Snap!

Thanks
Jonathan

RalphFromSnap

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#852029 9-Jul-2013 21:56

Hi Jonathan

Firstly, sorry for mucking you around on this. When we advised you earlier this year that we thought we would be up & running in Palmerston North by June, that was the best information that we had at the time.

We need to make quite a commitment to get into the area (so can't blame Chorus for this one) and for a whole heap of reasons it is just talking us longer than anticipated, so as at right now I'm reluctant to commit to a new date as I don't want to let anyone down again. Rest assured we will get there - its not fair that Palmerston North residents don't get to enjoy our awesome UFB services ;)

If you're absolutely unable to wait then we would let you out of your current contract with us, with no ETCs.

Happy to discuss further via DM if necessary.

Cheers
Ralph

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chevrolux

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#852031 9-Jul-2013 21:59

It is completely up to Snap to get a handover in our area. In saying that it isn't a small undertaking to get this happening. They have just done Masterton so hopefully are working away on our area at the moment.

I realise Telecom can offer UFB but at the moment they can't give a static IP or port 25 which makes it unsuitable for heaps of our customers. Fine for home users though.

Summary, I think Snap is worth the wait and would stick with them for ADSL 'til the end.

jonathan18

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#853674 11-Jul-2013 07:45

Thanks for the reply, Ralph - have now taken conversation off-line with a PM.

It's not that we actively want to leave, it's just quite frustrating sitting here with UFB at the gate and limited opportunity to use it. Issues like this are not going to help the wider cause, given the problems there are already with the slow take-up of UFB across NZ thus far.

Cheers
Jonathan

sbiddle

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#853677 11-Jul-2013 08:04

UFB is a totally different product than DSL and has a myriad of other issues that need to be dealt with - one of the biggest is handover and backhaul, something that's becoming a very big issue for ISP's. I have no knowledge of what Snap's delays are, but it's safe to assume this would probably be at least one contributing factor.

Unlike DSL where Chorus are allowed to provide both layer 2 and layer 3 services, Chorus and LFC's are only allowed to provide layer 2 services for UFB. This means that for DSL an ISP has a choice when it comes to backhaul to their network - they can use Chorus provided tails at a fixed cost, or they can provision their own 3rd party backhaul.

In the real world this means an ISP who has say 100 customers in a EUBA handover area may just use Chorus tails to connect the xDSL customer directly back into their network (which could be in the same city, or at the other end of the country). They will pay a fixed price per customer for Chorus to carry this data based on distance and once customer numbers grow you reach a point where transitioning those customers to 3rd party backhaul becomes financially viable.

Because tail services don't exist in the UFB world an ISP has to provision it's own 3rd party handover to a Chorus or LFC handover point, typically located in an exchange. This incurs significant costs and resources and isn't something that can be done overnight.

It also means going forward that there could well be areas where some ISP's choose not to provide service because it won't be financially viable for them to do so. We're already seeing scenarios arise now in areas such as Tauranga where local ISP's are providing services where none of the big nationwide ISP's are.