Cabinets Rev-Up Broadband For 2,700 Porirua Reside

Cabinets Rev-Up Broadband For 2,700 Porirua Residents

Local telecommunications network operator Chorus has begun revving up the broadband network in Porirua with more than 2,700 residents now able to benefit from high speed internet access.

New roadside cabinets and fibre optic cable is being deployed in local streets to bring high speed broadband equipment closer to customers. This massive investment will see 42 upgraded cabinets and an additional 45km of fibre optic cable deployed in Porirua before the end of the year, building on the 160km of fibre already in the local network.

Eight cabinets in Plimmerton and five in Porirua city have already been turned on and planning is well underway to start work in Titahi Bay, Waitangirua and Whitby.

Chorus Fibre-to-the-Node Programme Manager Ed Beattie said they’re bringing the equipment closer to people because the closer you are to the equipment the faster your broadband speed is.

"Each cabinet is the equivalent of a mini telephone exchange and contain the electronic equipment needed to deliver high speed broadband to homes via Chorus' network.

"Around half of homes connected to the new cabinets are within five hundred metres of our fibre optic cable network and ninety percent 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.

Customers within 2km of a new cabinet should be able to connect at faster ADSL2+ broadband speeds subject to other factors including their broadband plan, modem, computer, and the wiring in their home or business. Customers near the local telephone exchange continue to have their broadband service delivered from equipment based there.

“We encourage Porirua residents to talk directly with their broadband service provider to find out if they’re connected to our upgraded network or when they will be.”
Chorus is upgrading about 3,600 cabinets and adding 2,500km of fibre optic cable to Telecom's existing 25,000km fibre network to enable the delivery of broadband speeds of between 10Mbps and 20Mbps to 80 percent of New Zealanders 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.

ENDS.

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