Slow home arrival for ultra-fast broadband
Chorus plans to start work on upgrading Hastings broadband fibre network in May but it will largely focus on the city centre with most residential customers outside of the CBD waiting three years or more to be connected.
Broadband speeds in the CBD will increase from 10Mbps to 100Mbps after the network has been upgraded. Some residential areas between Mayfair and Mahora as well as parts of Camberley will be included in this year's upgrade.
The work is part of year 2 (July 2012 to June) of the Chorus Ultra Fast Broadband project which is a nine-year programme to roll out a new fibre network to businesses and homes. Year 3 (July to June 2014) will connect more residential homes to the west and east of the city but will still leave a large section unconnected, including Parkvale man Anthony Black's home.
Mr Black complained to Chorus after realising his home wasn't even on the year 3 schedule and there was no way of telling when the fibre network was coming to his neighbourhood.
Chorus spokeswoman Melanie Marshall said she expected year 4 and 5 schedules to be released in the next couple of months and indicated it would largely include the remaining parts of residential Hastings city.
Work in Napier started in year 1 (to June 2012) where businesses in the CBD and residential parts of Pandora, Westshore, Napier Airport, Hospital Hill and Tamatea were connected. The schedule for year 2 included residential areas of Ahuriri, Bluff Hill and Napier South and year 3 would include Taradale, Onekawa and Marewa.
"We didn't have work in Hastings in year 1 because we just couldn't start work in all areas at once. It is a nine-year programme and will be rolled out progressively.
"We've met with the councils in Hastings and Napier to talk about the work we are going to do. We also have to have all of the schools connected by the year 2015."
UnisonFibre sales and marketing manager Wayne Baird said there was still confusion about who would be able to connect to the Chorus network first.
"I think the whole marketing of this hasn't been very good. People are still sitting at home waiting for something to happen and wondering why there's no action."
UnisonFibre's network also targeted businesses first but connecting to residential homes was not out of the question.
"What we can do is that where our fibre passes through residential areas, we may be able to connect to homes in the future.
"It is definitely something we are considering if it is viable and there's no reason why we can't."
