We recently tabled an update at the Product Forum of the changes we are making across the Chorus backhaul portfolio for consistency for CDCC, CXC and CRC.

We are now opening consultation and seeking feedback from the industry on the proposed changes for our POI to POI backhaul service CRC.  

Summary of the proposed changes: 

• Reduce pricing by 20% on average  
• Removal of 48 and 60 month fixed terms 
• Introduce Single Fibre Working (SFW) on 10G services 
• Termination at a First Data Switch will no longer be offered as CRC (now part of CXC)  
• Clarification of language around POIs in different UFB Areas 
• Revised early termination clause (ETC)  
• Updated SLA rebates for backhaul portfolio consistency  
• Updated technical specification to maintain currency of standards 
• Grandfathering of CRT, CRC and CXC will become the available alternatives

We are proposing the following changes and pricing: 

• Ease of getting cost savings within shorter term commitments. We realise a lot can change in technology terms over longer time periods, which can impact your decisions
• Simplified pricing. The existing pricing structure has multiple term discounts (open, 12, 24, 36, 48, & 60 months). We are proposing to simplify this to open, 12, 24, 36 months
• Potential for you to reduce some SFP equipment costs incurred with dual fibre, by giving you the option of SFW on 10G 
• Clarified the UFB Area applicable to each POI so that Service Providers are clear which links CRC can be taken between
• Updated technical specifications for consistency with our transport backhaul portfolio 
• Updated rebates for transport backhaul portfolio consistency  
• For those on existing and new contracted terms for CRC, we are clarifying the ETC so that you can simply pay out the remainder of your committed term if terminating before the end of it (amended Service Description was released with the March Product Forum)
• Limit service impacts for migration from CRT to CRC like for like services e.g. 10G CRT to 10G CRC 
• Links that start or terminate at a First Data Switch (which was limited to copper traffic) will no longer be offered as CRC, but will be covered by the CXC product currently under consultation 

Feedback and contact

We are seeking your feedback on the proposed changes and pricing. Consultation is open from today until 5 April 2023. You can provide feedback via this online form or contact your account team to arrange a meeting to discuss further. We plan to share the feedback received and recommendations from the consultation via our weekly updates in April.