Chorus contractor to cut 145 jobs

  • Breaking
  • 29/04/2015

Job losses at a maintenance company could mean internet woes for New Zealand households.

Engineering contractor Transfield Services is proposing to axe 145 jobs after Chorus decided to cut spending on the copper broadband network.

Labour says it's a result of the Government's behind-schedule rollout of ultra-fast broadband, accusing Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Communications Minister Amy Adams of neglecting the copper network.

"Chorus is now doing reactive fixing – they're not going out and proactively keeping the copper network up to scratch, and I think we're noticing more faults," Labour ICT spokesperson Clare Curran told RadioLIVE this morning.

"The rest of the country is not going to see fibre for some time, years. Meanwhile, their existing service is being degraded."

In November last year, Ms Adams reported there were 55,000 users of ultra-fast broadband in New Zealand – compared with 1.3 million still using the copper network.

A final call on the jobs will be made late next month. Transfield says some employees – but not all – may be offered jobs elsewhere in company.

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source: newshub archive