Hi Everyone! Sorry we’ve been away for so long but we promise we have some exciting details for you we can’t wait to share. Like all great things, we hope to bring you back here quite often as we bring some handy new updates the likes of which will help give you the information (and tools) you need to make your Internet better. (Yes, contrary to the internet there are ways you can improve it)
But first we have some super important details to fill you in on regarding Fibre, much of which will be music to the ears of those who are thinking of upgrading.
The Land access reform, or, how your fibre install is going to get SO much easier
If you’re trying to get fibre, and you live in a shared driveway, cross lease, or an multi-dwelling unit, you’ll find one of the hardest things is getting consent. You’d need everyone who shares your land to sign a consent form before you can get fibre, and people sometimes forget, or their landlord is overseas, or your neighbours just don’t like you that much (Awkward…), and things can get a bit messy. Or at least they use to be….
The good news is that the government has implemented a new scheme to make things much easier. Chorus is the first company to sign up.
This scheme will apply to fibre orders submitted on or after 2 October 2017.[1]
After you order fibre, the local fibre company will send out technicians to check what kind of installation is needed. Your install will then be allocated into three categories: low, medium or high depending on the impact to the land.
Category 1: Low impact
If the fibre installation would only cause a low impact, you can skip the consents process entirely! Your fibre company just needs to send a letter to all affected neighbours, and they can begin work after 10 working days. It’s estimated 36% of installs fall under this category.[2]
Low impact installation methods include:[3]
- Aerial installation
- Installation using existing conduit
- Digging grass/soil/sand
- Installing fibre beneath paving stones
- Attaching fibre to a fence, while not damaging the fence and minimising the visual prominence of the fibre
Note: Category 1 only applies to properties without a body corp. For properties with a body corp the install will be upgraded to category 2.
Category 2: Medium impact
If the fibre installation would cause a medium impact, your fibre company will send a letter to your neighbours. If they don’t say no within 20 days then your fibre company can assume they have agreed and can begin works. (This part speeds up the process) There’s a narrow range of valid objections, so your neighbours can’t say no just because they don’t like you.[4] 52% of installs are in this category.[5]
Medium impact installation methods include:
- Fence installs that do not meet the low impact criteria
- Microtrenching less than 15mm wide
- Digging up hard surface smaller than 4m2 per dwellings on the property
- Installing or attaching fibre or supporting equipment to a building
Category 3: High impact
All installs that are not category 1 or 2 will be high impact. Standard consents process will continue to apply.
Chorus estimates that 70%[6] of previously declined consents will now be able to proceed. So if you tried to get fibre before and couldn’t, or your fibre order is stuck in consents, please get in touch with us and we’ll see if this new procedure can help!
More Importantly if you aren’t sure if you can get Fibre, or if the modem you have can support UFB have a look over here. You’ll be able to find both here, just enter your address first.
If you’re already with Bigpipe and want to upgrade to one of our awesome fibre plans, just log in to our website and request a plan change here.
[1] https://blog.chorus.co.nz/landaccess/
[2]http://www.mbie.govt.nz/publications-research/publications/telecommunications/ris-land-access-for-telecommunications-to-support-deployment-of-ufb.pdf p.21
[3] http://legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2017/0082/9.0/whole.html#DLM7233542
[4] http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2001/0103/latest/DLM7314737.html
[5] MBIE, p.22
[6] https://sp.chorus.co.nz/product-update/simplifying-consents-land-access-reforms
Recent Comments