There are plenty of reasons to celebrate at Chorus. So much so a team from the telecommunications company is taking a ‘Little Fibre Miracles’ journey across New Zealand - giving back to deserving Kiwis who have done amazing things on their fibre network.
Not only is Christmas just around the corner, the first and biggest phase of Chorus’s ultra fast fibre broadband roll out (UFB1) will be completed at the end of November.
This is one of the largest national infrastructure projects New Zealand has ever seen.
It means more than 75% of Kiwis now have access to fibre broadband to their home or business. By the end of 2022, more than 87% of all Kiwi homes and businesses will have fibre.
To celebrate the end of phase one, Chorus has selected 11 recipients (charities /community groups/organisations) in Chorus fibre areas to receive a gift that helps them take advantage of fibre connectivity, to reach their full potential.
The gifts arrived by tugboat into Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour over the weekend and will be delivered by the AM Show team and Chorus as part of a 12 day road trip starting in a central North Island town later this week– taking in a range of places from Waiheke Island to Mosgiel along the way.
Chorus spokesperson Steve Pettigrew says they’re giving back to charities who have been doing great things with their fibre connections.
"This is a significant milestone for New Zealand, fibre connectivity has shifted the parameters of what we’re now able to do," Steve says. "It’s changed the way we live, work and play."
"The roll out really has been ahead of its time. Nine years ago nobody thought there would be such a need and uptake for fibre," he says.
"We’d like to use this festive occasion to highlight the benefits now available to kiwis through fibre connectivity."
New Zealand is second only to Japan in the world for fibre uptake. But Steve thinks we’re not far from catching up and taking over the top spot.
"Kiwis recognise and appreciate the importance of fibre. And it doesn’t end here at the end of the first phase. It’s continuing with 350 smaller towns and communities becoming connected by 2022."
Chorus recently launched Hyperfibre. Using a XGS-PON fibre solution, Hyperfibre is set to dramatically increase capacity and unlocks the ability to deliver exponential speeds on the Chorus fibre network of up to 10 Gbps.
Steve continues to be impressed by the innovation when it comes to how people watch their favourite shows and games. “When Netflix began in April 2015 New Zealanders started to appreciate a high quality and fast broadband service. We’ve now got Disney Plus, Lightbox, Neon, and Spark Sport streamed the Rugby World Cup.”
But at this time of year the Chorus team can’t wait to give back to communities and charities.
"We’re proud to go out around the country and be gift-givers. Not only is this the end of phase one, it’s also the perfect time of year to give back," Steve says.
You can follow the Chorus team’s Little fibre miracles journey, from Auckland to Invercargill on the Chorus Facebook page
Fun facts
- Chorus started the UFB1 project in 2011, and in August 2014 Oamaru was the first completed fibre town.
- In November 2014 Dunedin awarded Gigatown. 27 cities and towns have now been completed.
- When UFB1 fibre started the average connection speed was 10Mbps, and now it's more than 125Mbps. Average data usage was 12GB and it’s now 297GB.
- In 2011 at the beginning of this project uptake projections were 20% by 2019, now more than half (55%) of kiwi homes and businesses are connected to fibre.
This article is created for Chorus.
