Fibre case highlights net needs
Christchurch fibre cable provider Enable has welcomed the Commerce Commission prosecution of Vodafone, which is due for a first hearing at the Auckland District Court on May 22.
The commission alleges Vodafone misled customers into thinking they would receive a full fibre service when they were being offered Vodafone’s hybrid fibre-coaxial cabling.
Enable chief executive Steve Fuller said the company had received feedback from several Christchurch residents who said they felt misled because they could not get Enable fibre from Vodafone when it was available.
Enable is the wholesale provider of fibre cable – but some of its retail customers, such as Vodafone, who make the connections to property owners, are also rival cable providers.
In about half of Christchurch and parts of Wellington and Kapiti, Vodafone took over TelstraClear’s hybrid fibrecoaxial cabling in 2012.
The existence of this hybrid may be a reason for slower uptake of Enable’s pure fibre cable because most small households would be unlikely to notice a difference between the two.
However, Fuller said that people were becoming more reliant on fast broadband connections – for example, the 2019 Rugby World Cup would be livestreamed over the internet.
‘‘We’re keen for the community to get open and honest communication so people can make an informed choice.
‘‘We want to see people choose the best broadband connectivity – which in our mind is fibre – and then enjoy the freedom this provides to buy a service from any broadband retailer.’’
With 95 per cent of the cable installed throughout Christchurch, providing potential access to 180,000 homes and businesses, about 70,000 have connected so far, with a statement of intent goal of 72,222 for 2018.
Enable will provide a free connection from the street to the home – once the homeowner has signed up with a retailer. The offer lasts until the end of 2019.
Enable is wholly owned by the Christchurch City Council via Christchurch City Holdings, which currently has loans to Enable of $261m. It also has injected cash of approximately $165m in exchange for shares.
When it was launched in 2007, the venture was described as a $440m enterprise in terms of funding. The 2017 accounts value the network assets at $405m.