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Tag: Chorus

  • Chorus commences stage two of UFB rollout

    Chorus commences stage two of UFB rollout

    New Zealand wholesale operator Chorus has commenced the second phase of the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative, which will involve the rollout of the national fiber network to 169 new areas including 18 towns.

    The build has commenced in the coastal town of Kokitika on the West Coast, and will be extended to other towns in the region including Westport, Reefton and Runanga.

    The state-led UFB program will deliver fiber broadband to around 1.3 million premises including households, businesses and schools, representing around 85% of the population – up from the initial target of 75%.

    Up to NZ$410 million ($280 million) in funding has been allocated for the second stage of the project. Chorus was selected as the main private partner for the rollout after agreeing to separate from what is now Spark as part of the break up of the former Telecom New Zealand’s wholesale and retail operations.

    The remaining areas of the country are receiving enhanced broadband under the concurrent Rural Broadband Initiative.

    “Today we’ve taken the first step toward bringing world-class connectivity to Hokitika,” Chorus general manager of infrastructure Ed Beattie said.

    “Fiber provides the broadband equivalent of an autobahn right to the door of homes and businesses, and it will future-proof Hokitika for the anticipated continued growth in data consumption for generations to come.”

  • New Zealand’s Chorus extends managed services deal with Nokia

    New Zealand’s Chorus extends managed services deal with Nokia

    New Zealand infrastructure provided Chorus has extended its managed services agreement with Nokia for another three years.

    With the contract extension, Nokia will remain the operator’s sole managed services partner.

    The contract is based on Nokia providing fully managed end-to-end operations services aimed at improving the customer experience, operational efficiency and the quality of Chorus’ nationwide fixed line network.

    The initial managed services contract was signed in 2014. Under the agreement, Nokia is providing real-time end-to-end operations and network management from its Global Delivery Center in India.

    “Our decision to extend the existing agreement reflects our satisfaction with Nokia operations and support services,” Chorus CTO Ewen Powell said.

    “We need a partner that understands our business and can deliver simplicity over complexity, helping us launch innovative offerings to our partners and their customers while improving the overall reliability of our networks. Nokia has proven its capabilities to do that, so the extension was very straight forward.”

    Chorus was spun out of the infrastructure arm of former state-owned operator Telecom New Zealand as part of the demerger agreement that was a condition of its participation in New Zealand’s Ultrafast Broadband (UFB) state broadband project. The retail division was spun out into what is now called Spark.

    Chorus owns the majority of telephone lines and exchange equipment in New Zealand and is responsible for building around 70% of the UFB.

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  • New Zealand’s Chorus appoints Kate McKenzie as CEO

    New Zealand’s Chorus appoints Kate McKenzie as CEO

    New Zealand telecoms operator Chorus has appointed Kate McKenzie as its new CEO, replacing Mark Ratcliffe from February 2017.

    A highly regarded and experienced telco executive, McKenzie will oversee the rollout of Chorus’ Ultra-Fast Broadband and will focus on customer experience moving forward.

    “I have admired Chorus’ roll out of very high quality broadband infrastructure and I look forward to playing my part in working with the rest of the telecommunications sector to make it as easy as possible for our customers to enjoy the benefits of this nation-wide upgrade and all of the social and economic benefits that will deliver,” McKenzie said

    Before joining Chorus, McKenzie was most recently chief operating officer of Telstra,  responsible for the Australian incumbent’s field services, IT and network architecture and operations. She joined Telstra in 2004 and held a range of senior executive roles in strategy, marketing, products and wholesale over the past 12 years.

    McKenzie stepped down from Telstra in July,  following a series of network outages facing the telco this year. Earlier this month Telstra appointed former Juniper Networks CFOO and COO Robyn Denholm as its new COO.

    Prior to joining Telstra, Kate was a CEO in the NSW Government of the Departments of Commerce, Industrial Relations and the Workcover Authority. She worked in the Cabinet Office on the development and implementation of competition policy, energy reform, privatization and a range of complex Commonwealth/State negotiations.

    Commenting on McKenzie’s appointment, Chorus chairman Patrick Strange said, “The board is very pleased that Kate has agreed to lead Chorus. She is one of the most highly rated telecommunications executives in the region.  We believe the combination of Kate’s clear leadership qualities and her broad range of relevant experience made her the standout choice in a field of high quality candidates.”

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  • New Zealand’s Chorus plans 1Gbps wholesale fiber service

    New Zealand’s Chorus plans 1Gbps wholesale fiber service

    New Zealand fixed line operator Chorus has revealed plans to extend 1Gbps wholesale fiber services across its entire share of the Ultrafast Broadband (UFB) network from next month.

    The operator will make wholesale residential and SME broadband services available nationwide on any UFB connection within Chorus’ UFB rollout area.

    The UFB is New Zealand’s national fiber broadband network, designed to cover 80% of the New Zealand population by 2022. Chorus won 70% of the contracts to deploy the fiber network from Crown Fibre Holdings, the government-owned company set up to manage the project.

    Chorus said it plans to offer residential wholesale gigabit broadband services to retailers at an introductory price of NZ$60 ($44) per month – increasing to $65 per month after June 2017 – and a business service for NZ$75 per month.

    These prices still require approval from Crown Fibre Holdings, but if this approval does not come by the end of September services will still launch on a trial basis.

    With current technology Chorus said the gigabit broadband service will offer real-world downlink speeds of between 900Mbps and 970Mbs and uplink speeds of up to 500Mbps. This compares to an average download speed across Chorus’ networks of just 35Mbps.

    Chorus began offering Gigabit broadband services in the city of Dunedin in February 2015.

    “We are delighted that other fiber providers have joined Chorus in championing gigabit residential and business services,” Chorus CEO Mark Ratcliffe said.

    “Making New Zealand a true ‘Gignation’, beyond the 5,000-plus connections we have in Dunedin, should see us catapulted up the league tables of broadband speed rankings and reinforce the high quality of the broadband infrastructure we’re rolling out.”