Telecom, Enable sign Christchurch Crown Fibre pact
Hot on the heels of Orcon's UFB plans comes a deal between the Christchurch Crown Fibre winner and Telecom. UPDATED
Telecom said today it has signed a wholesale services agreement with Enable to deliver fibre-based services, including Ultrafast Broadband (UFB), in Christchurch.
Business broadband over fibre will be sold "soon" while residential fibre service will be trialed by Telecom.
Enable is the government’s partner responsible for delivering ultra-fast fibre broadband to homes and businesses in Christchurch and surrounding centres as part of the national, $1.35 billion UFB initiative.
As part of its UFB contract with state-owned Crown Fibre Holdings, Enable has a provision allowing for a 50:50 joint venture with Chorus, spun-off from Telecom in November (on that front, there is still no word a Chorus spokesman said this afternoon).
Chorus won 80% of the country, by premise, in the UFB tender.
"We have a wholesale agreement with Chorus, which was agreed last year as part of the demerger process," a Telecom spokeswoman told NBR. "We are also in discussions with the other two local fibre companies, Ultra Fast Fibre and Northpower, and hope to conclude agreements soon.
Chris Quin, chief executive of Telecom's IT and telco services division Gen-i, said that the agreement was aligned with the government’s objective of prioritising business use of ultra-fast broadband, and would build on Gen-i’s significant existing client base and capability in Christchurch.
“We look forward to signing up our first business clients to fibre services over Enable’s network soon, and partnering with them to realise the full benefits of ultra-fast broadband and create economic value for the Canterbury region,” Mr Quin said.
The pair have yet to give any indication of how fibre plans will be priced for business.
Enable boss Steve Fuller told NBR on February 13 that most residential UFB fibre connections would be free; businesses would have to pay a fee equivalent to two months' broadband charges.
NBR staff
Mon, 12 Mar 2012
Mon, 12 Mar 2012
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Telecom, Enable sign Christchurch Crown Fibre pact
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