In 25 March 2020 New Zealand entered into “COVID-19 alert status 4’ closing all education facilities for at least 4 weeks with the likelihood to extend further. To support the education of students in need, Chorus has teamed up with the Telecommunications Forum (TCF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) identifying households where students currently do not have access to a broadband connection. 

In response, Chorus launched the COVID-19 MOE Support Package offer inviting broadband providers to participate. This offer period is was originally available from 1 April 2020 until 30 June 2020 (formally 31 May 2020). The offer period was subsequently extended on several occasions, as detailed in the relevant RSP updates. The current offer period ends on 30 June 2023.

This is a unique opportunity for our industry to work together to support these households by connecting them to broadband so these students can continue to learn.

Please see the offer letter for more details. 

How will this work

• Participating retail service providers will work with MOE to connect qualifying households. Please refer to the connection process diagram in our related documents.
• Chorus will provide the broadband access on the best intact broadband infrastructure in place – fibre if already installed, VDSL if no fibre is installed, and ADSL if no VDSL is not an option. Please note, Chorus expects most of this broadband to be provided over the VDSL/ADSL broadband network.
• Retail service providers will qualify for credits if they connect eligible households  (as defined by a Reference list supplied by Chorus) to our 100/20Mbps NGA plan or above (where an ONT already exists and can be connected remotely) or the best available copper broadband (where fibre cannot be connected remotely) and have placed orders in accordance with the Ministry of Educations COVID-19 Response programme.
• Chorus will pay monthly credits on each active connection to qualifying households for up until 30 June 2023 (the revised offer period) or until that household disconnects or downgrades (fibre only), whichever comes first.

Chorus will credit to RSPs all monthly rental charges relating to:

• 300/100 Consumer Fibre products or;
• Copper (VDSL/ADSL)
  • (This includes any relevant TES charges)

In the event that an RSP connects a customer to a higher-priced service (e.g. Fibre Max), Chorus will only credit up to the wholesale price of a 300/100 fibre service.

Please note: any price changes through the offer period will be reflected in this offer. First month includes intact connection fee. a remote connection should be considered before any other connection type. Credits for exchange visit or site visit are to be agreed by Chorus.

Chorus will monitor active connections throughout the offer period in accordance with the terms of the offer.

How do I sign up?

If you are interested and would like to participate or have any other queries please contact your account team.