Fibre broadband providers urge people to upgrade for winter


Fibre broadband network providers Ultrafast Fibre, Northpower Fibre and Enable are expecting increased demand for fibre broadband connections this winter and so are urging households to get in early.


William Hamilton, CEO of Ultrafast Fibre, says a busy period is anticipated as the demand for broadband reliability, speed and capacity reaches a tipping point.


“Each winter we see a huge surge in data consumption as people spend more time indoors working, playing, communicating, shopping, learning and being entertained online. Increasingly, this involves the whole family independently using Wi-Fi connected devices all at the same time, so the best available broadband connection is becoming essential in order for this to happen,” says Mr Hamilton.


Darren Mason, CEO of Northpower Fibre, says another reason to connect to fibre is the well documented cases of reliability and performance issues with older copper networks, which suffered from increased faults and outages last winter.


“There are not the same weather related issues with fibre, so with wet and cold weather approaching again, and people increasingly online and for longer, now is the perfect time to act and upgrade to the latest technology,” says Mr Mason.


Enable CEO Steve Fuller stresses that people often underplay just how important broadband at home is to how they live their lives, are entertained or connect with friends and family until it slows down or stops working.


“If doing what you want online is important to you and fibre broadband is the best broadband available at your place, then why haven’t you got it? Particularly when you consider fibre broadband is super reliable, usually costs no more than copper per month and we don’t charge anything to connect you at home,” says Mr Fuller.


The fibre broadband providers point to a key reason for the customer-driven fibre demand being the explosive popularity of TV and movie streaming services. People are now very much aware of the benefits of fast, reliable broadband.


The companies will be running a pre-winter reminder campaign for households across areas where their networks are available - Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Tokoroa, Hawera, Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Whangarei. People wanting to book their upgrade should contact their broadband service provider now. They can learn more about fibre broadband at www.winteriscoming.co.nz.

 

About Ultrafast Fibre Limited:

Ultrafast Fibre built, owns and operates a 3,000km fibre network in the urban areas of Hamilton, Tauranga, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Tokoroa, Hawera, Cambridge and Te Awamutu. This network is available to more than 190,000 homes, schools and businesses.
In addition work is underway on providing fibre for 12 more North Island towns, Ngaruawahia, Huntly, Kihikihi, Raglan, Eltham, Inglewood, Stratford, Waitara, Putaruru, Te Puke, Omokoroa and Katikati. The UFF network represents about 13% of the entire national UFB build.


About Northpower Fibre:

Northpower Fibre completed New Zealand’s first ultra-fast broadband fibre network in Whangarei in 2014 – taking fibre to 22,500 customers.

In 2017, Northpower Fibre secured contracts to build UFB networks in 12 Kaipara and Whangarei towns – Kaiwaka, Mangawhai Village, Mangawhai Heads, Maungaturoto, Paparoa.


About Enable:

Enable is a network operator that provides fibre broadband services to homes, businesses and schools in Christchurch, Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Woodend, Lincoln, Prebbleton and Rolleston. Today Enable’s network reaches over 140,000 potential customers in these towns – and the network is set to extend to another 40,000 before 31 December 2018.

Focused only on the greater Christchurch region, Enable is inherently linked to the local community and is committed to making a positive contribution to this community – via its critical fibre network infrastructure and underlying potential of fibre broadband to transform how people use technology in their lives.