Ericsson Fibre To Be Used In NZ's UFB Rollout

Ericsson Fibre To Be Used In New Zealand’s Ultra-Fast Broadband Rollout

• Ericsson will provide air blown fibre optic cable to Chorus, who has been selected to build a fibre network that will enable service providers to deliver high quality internet service to New Zealanders.
•
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has today signed an agreement with Chorus, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications utility provider, to supply air-blown fibre optic-cable systems that will be part of the program to build a new fibre network that will deliver ultra-fast broadband services to New Zealanders.

Ericsson’s optical fibre has the ability to conduct data at speeds of at least 100mbps (downstream) and 50Mbps (upstream). This deal contributes to the New Zealand government’s ambition to deliver a National Ultra-Fast Broadband Network to three-quarters of the population by 2019 so that New Zealanders can experience vastly improved speeds than they typically do today.

Chorus has been selected as one of the infrastructure companies to build the fibre network, which is expected to support wide ranging social and economic growth initiatives for New Zealand.

Ericsson, will supply components of its Ribbonet® ABF system, which includes fibre cables; microduct; tools and all related accessories.

Chris Dyhrberg, Chorus General Manager for Network Build, says, “We are at the start of the fibre journey, and it is critical we make the right infrastructure choices that will set us up for a successful future.

“The agreement with Ericsson reinforces our commitment to using quality products to build our new fibre network and to working with suppliers that we can be confident will support us in delivering our commitments. This agreement is a significant part of making sure we get our fibre network build right, at the outset.”

Alfred Ling, Head of Ericsson New Zealand, says this is a critical segment of one of the most important infrastructure projects yet undertaken in New Zealand. “Air-blown fibre is an extremely efficient system to install, allowing for incremental expansion without additional significant civil works. It cuts down deployment time when compared with traditional fibre installation methods.”

“The fibre provided to Chorus can carry more data-demanding and latency-sensitive applications such as healthcare and education delivery through interactive TV, real time business communications through video and other data-rich professional services.

“Ericsson has extensive market experience in delivering air-blown fibre networks, as well as a deep understanding of all the complex issues involved in the deployment of these networks. This expertise will be put to use in the UFB rollout,” said Mr Ling.

Ericsson has had a continuous presence in New Zealand for over 100 years. Its history in deploying fibre networks for the country dates back to the early 1990s. Over this period Ericsson has invested in fibre solutions competence in New Zealand. Ericsson has completed work on large fibre infrastructure projects in partnership with Telecom NZ, the then Telstra Saturn, and Vector.

Globally, Ericsson has substantial experience completing large fibre projects, this includes: Telia and Stokab City in Sweden; Globe Telecom in the Philippines; the City of Johannesburg in South Africa, and with MAN in Greece

ENDS

© Scoop Media