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Copper withdrawal

Transitioning customers to fibre

Overview

Fibre is now available to 87% of New Zealanders. Where a fibre network is available, we can withdraw the old copper network. Under the Copper Withdrawal Code, we notify affected addresses and work with our RSP customers to migrate to fibre or an alternate network.

CW Code Update March 2024: we are working through implementing the required changes and we will update this page soon

Where fibre is available, we are encouraging New Zealanders to migrate off copper to an alternative technology across targeted copper withdrawal batches. We select copper network to withdraw where it makes sense (for example, if there aren’t many copper users remaining somewhere, or if our copper network would require major investment to maintain), but always where fibre is available to the consumer.

This is not a mass switch-off of the copper network; it is a programme that encourages customers to move from copper to an alternative technology, and it is carefully managed to ensure there are no surprises. Only consumers who receive a notice from us are part of the withdrawal process. 

In areas outside of the fibre footprint (SFA), copper will continue to deliver a reliable and consistent service and be well maintained.

As of August 2023, we have: 

  • Emptied 537 Cabinets
  • Initiated withdrawal of service from 1,541 cabinets (overall number)
  • Notified 30,261 copper services 
  • Initiated a trial withdrawing copper in another LFC area. 
     

FY24 Batch volume plan – high level 

Our high-level plan for this financial year is to include approx. 6,000 services per batch, maintaining the cadence of a batch every two months.  We are trialling with all LFCs and expect to move LFC’s into BAU this year.

 

Information for consumers

The Copper Withdrawal Code requires Chorus to meet minimum requirements before we can withdraw copper – including  providing impacted consumers with easily accessible information. Our team has been working hard to ensure the information we provide consumers is as informative as possible. We hope it helps consumers to have informed conversations with you. 

This collateral is now available for you to view and have on hand to support your key messages for ongoing conversations:

  1. Letter addressed to the Occupant, which forms part of the notice.
    1. First notice
    2. Further notice 
    3. Final notice
    4. Confirmation notice
    5. Continuation notice
       
  2. An accompanying guide with more consumer-focused detail, which also forms part of the notice. [View booklet]
     
  3. A dedicated copper withdrawal web page on the Chorus website for consumers, which contains everything they need to know.

You can view copper withdrawal impacted addresses on our public site.

Copies of the stop sell notices can be found here:

Copper Withdrawal - Quick find

Stop sell - Quick find

The copper withdrawal process

Our process has been tested, iterated, and now embedded in our BAU operational teams.  

  • The Batch Milestones table below shows the current and planned batches.  
  • We will update this with further batches regularly. 
  • Fibre orders follow the BAU fibre process however progress and issues are monitored by our programme.

If you would like an overview of the programme and process, please reach out to the copper withdrawal team.

 

Supporting the programme

Thank you to those RSPs that have been involved and supported the process so far.  For inflight and future batches, we ask for your continued assistance with the following:

  • Let us know about any incorrect customer address / records details when we send you Advance Notice.
  • Inform us of any ‘at-risk’ customers as early as possible.
  • Continue to contact and inform your customers of the urgency to move off copper before the End of Notice Period.

 

Batch milestones - update coming soon

Chorus copper withdrawal batch milestones

 

FAQs and further assistance

A number of related questions have been answered in the FAQs below. If you do have any other questions, or require additional support, please do not hesitate to reach out to your service delivery lead or email the copper withdrawal team.

Frequently asked questions

Stop-sell overview

Stop sell and new copper orders

Stopping the sale of new copper services in areas where we intend to withdraw copper enables us to manage the Code requirements for existing services and limit a user experience impact for new service consumers. Change of plan and change of provider orders are allowed to progress, however copper withdrawal notices still apply.

Stop Sell notices have been issued for each batch that is released, and our systems rejected any requests for new copper orders at addresses in the withdrawal process. As of 6 March 2023, Chorus implemented a 'Stop Sell' on all copper services inside SFA areas (you can view these areas here on the Commerce Commission site). This means that all affected addresses - including those targeted by copper withdrawal batches - will be prevented from placing new copper orders and fibre will be the only fixed line option offered. Fibre is available to all these addresses.

Stop-sell FAQ

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