Orcon boss Scott Bartlett says Telecom Chorus’ roadside fibre cabinets offer scorching performance, and he wants his ISP’s gear in all of them - but can’t afford to at rates currently proposed by the Commerce Commission.

The ComCom has made positive noises in return (keep reading).

Mr Bartlett says he is completely sold on the technical need for neighbourhood cabinets, which bring fibre closer from a phone exchange to a closer to a customer’s door.

The Commerce Commission has opened yet another broadband line of inquiry, this time looking at unbundled local loop backhaul, defined as “the final link connecting competitors to Telecom's local loop, so those companies can provide services such as landlines and broadband to households.”

But Vodafone is relaxed, preferring to build its own exchange-to-exchange network rather than worry about access to Telecom’s fibre.