Broadband network extended

Chorus has started upgrading five cabinets on its copper broadband network in Horowhenua which will benefit residents of Tararua Rd, Hokio Beach Rd, Mangaore, South Manakau Rd and SH1 north of Levin, Chorus said.

It means either building new cabinets or upgrading existing cabinets and then connecting them back to the nearest exchange with fibre.

VDSL broadband will be available on each of the new and upgraded cabinets. The work is part of the Government’s Rural Capacity Upgrades programme.

“The quality of broadband has been a concern for businesses and residents in these rural areas for a while, so it’s pleasing to be able to provide substantially-improved infrastructure,” said Andy Carroll, GM customer network operations.

“There’s no question that access to better broadband makes a significant difference to the lives of New Zealanders, and this programme of work shows how committed we are to improving rural connectivity.”

Following the upgrades, residents living within about 1.2km of an upgraded cabinet should be able to access fibreenabled VDSL broadband that will provide much more consistent broadband. Households outside the VDSL footprint, will still benefit from the upgrades, with improved broadband speeds and reliability.

Once the upgrades are completed, it is easy for people to upgrade to VDSL. In most cases, if VDSL is available at an address, the upgrade can be completed remotely without the need for a technician to visit the home. All people need to do is contact their service provider and request a VDSL upgrade.

The figures show that the average household on Chorus’ copper and fibre networks used 511GB of data in March, a significant increase on the 293GB used prior to the first Covid lockdowns in 2020.

“Lockdowns forced many households to change their online behaviours and adopt more digital tools and services in many aspects of our life,” said Carroll.