Telecom New Zealand rolls out UFB FTTH services to 12 cities, towns

Telecom New Zealand said on Thursday it will begin offering Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) services directly to consumers, businesses and schools in the country.

Residential customers who order the telco's "Ultra Fibre" package will have their choice of two speed plans: 30/10 Mbps or 100/50 Mbps, all of which include monthly data limits.

The UltraFibre 30 plan begins at NZD 95 (USD 80.00), in addition to a 150 GB and 500 GB for NZD 109 (USD 91.00) and NZD 129 (USD 108.00) option.

UltraFibre 100 offers three options: 50 GB of data for NZD 125 (USD 105) per month; 150 GB for NZD 139 (USD 116.00) per month; and 500 GB of data NZD 159 (USD 133.00) per month.

Businesses and schools will also be able to gain equally competitive rates for UFB services.

A basic business package begins at NZD 167.29 (USD 140) for 200 GB of data on 100 Mbps while a Total Office package that includes both landline voice and Ultra Fibre data services is priced at NZD 207 (USD 173.40) with 200 GB of data. Schools have the option of purchasing either a 30/30 Mbps unlimited symmetrical data package for NZD 129 (USD 108.00), while an unlimited 50/50 Mbps offering is NZD 159 (USD 133) per month.

Initially, Telecom New Zealand's Ultra Fibre products will be available in the Chorus network footprint because they are the largest UFB partner, commanding almost 70 percent of the UFB market, which includes Auckland and 11 other New Zealand cities and towns. Over the next few months, TNZ plans to bring services to Ashburton, Masterton, Taupo and Invercargill and is trialing products with three other UFB partners.

Under the terms of the one-year contract, customers who sign up for the UltraFibre services will get landline rental, fiber installation, fiber modem, premise equipment, and McAfee Security Suite and Flickr Pro. Although installation is free for most homes and schools, some homes that have wiring connected to an aerial telephone pole may have to pay an installation charge.

Customers who purchase Ultra Fibre will initially retain their existing copper-based phone lines for voice, faxes and medical alarms. The service provider said it plans to introduce a fiber-based voice product later this year.

While it's still in development stage, the New Zealand government has been making continual progress with rolling out the UFB network and services.

As of last November, it reported that 100,000 homes, businesses and schools could connect to the government UFB network, up from the76,000 premises it said the network passed in August.

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Telecom New Zealand to debut UFB fiber broadband services in March
New Zealand government's UFB network passes 100,000 homes
New Zealand's UFB network passes more than 76K premises
Telecom New Zealand establishes wholesale agreement with Northpower Fibre
Telecom New Zealand, Enable establish wholesale pact for business, consumer services