Henderson High Speed Broadband Roll-Out Completed

Henderson High Speed Broadband Roll-Out Completed

Local telecommunications network operator Chorus has completed its work to rev-up broadband speeds in Henderson meaning thousands more local residents can now benefit from faster internet access.

Chorus has been working for the last nine months installing 81 new roadside cabinets and 48km of fibre optic cable to extend ADSL2+ broadband speeds to customers not already benefitting from upgrades of equipment in telephone exchanges.

This massive investment programme built on the 77km of fibre already in the local network and is part of Telecom’s commitment to enable the delivery of broadband connections between 10Mbps and 20Mbps to 80 per cent of New Zealanders by the end of 2011.

Chorus chief executive Mark Ratcliffe said each cabinet is the equivalent of a mini telephone exchange.

“About 14,000 customers are now connected to the new cabinets which contain ADSL2+ broadband equipment previously located in the local telephone exchange. The cabinets were required for these customers because the closer you are to the broadband equipment the faster your broadband speed is.

“Around half of homes connected to the new cabinets are within five hundred metres of our fibre optic cable network and ninety per cent within one kilometre. This provides an ideal springboard for even faster broadband speeds in the future through VDSL2 technology and fibre to the home” he said.

Henderson customers who are near the local telephone exchange will continue to receive service directly from the broadband equipment located at the exchange.

Mr Ratcliffe noted that although the broadband network has been upgraded, customers also have an important part to play in making the most of the new faster broadband capability.

“A customer’s broadband service is also affected by factors including their broadband plan, modem, computer, and the wiring in their home or business.

“We encourage Henderson customers who believe their broadband performance is still limited in some way to talk directly with their broadband service provider.”

Chorus’ focus is now on installing the first of 38 new cabinets in Glen Eden later this year. In all, Chorus will install and upgrade about 3,600 cabinets nationwide, as well as connect a further 2,500km of fibre optic cable to Telecom’s wider fibre optic network of 25,000km by the end of 2011.

Chorus is the operationally separate Telecom business unit that manages the local access network in New Zealand. The Chorus network is made up of local telephone exchanges and copper or fibre optic cables that connects approximately 1.8 million New Zealand homes and businesses. Its field service technicians visit more than one million homes and businesses each year to install or repair phone or internet services for a range of telecommunications providers.

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