Chorus broadband products: Fibre Good. Copper murky

Chorus broadband products: Fibre Good. Copper murky.

InternetNZ is pleased with today’s announcement by Chorus of consultation on new fibre broadband offerings for wholesalers, saying it shows the company is at last responding in innovative ways to customer and industry demands.

Chorus today announced that it would be offering a suite of new products on both its fibre and copper networks. Having a variety of services available for retailers to offer the public is a very positive move. InternetNZ CEO Jordan Carter says he’s pleased with Chorus’ change of approach on the fibre products.

“We’ve wanted Chorus to get on and show this sort of creativity and commercial spark for a long time. This new fibre product suite shows that Chorus is paying attention to what its customers are asking, and starting to think about generating cashflow through normal commercial means instead of through regulatory games.

However, Mr Carter also notes that the new products are outside the regulated environment so customers will need to be wary.

“While we welcome the new fibre products, we will check whether the new commercial copper services in fact provide better services or if they are a way in which Chorus can increase its prices for largely the same existing services.

“As always with these things, the devil is in the detail – and we will be running a very careful eye over these products and how they relate to the regulated baseline. We all need to ensure that New Zealanders still get a fair deal from the regulated product.

“New fibre commercial products are a welcome change of approach. Chorus must also keep a reasonable copper offering for consumers that is as good as today’s, minimum.

“We will look forward to engaging with Chorus and other providers as the sixty day consultation proceeds, to understand the products and make sure the interests of Internet users are top of mind, Jordan Carter says.

ENDS

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