In November we consulted with you on a proposed change to the net fibre growth condition for full incentive payment eligibility. The responses were positive. There was consensus that the proposed change of eliminating RSP to RSP fibre transfers was better aligned to the aim of overall fibre growth. It was also noted that providing ongoing certainty was key for RSPs.

The primary purpose of Chorus RSP incentives is to recognise and reward RSP activity that supports overall fibre growth on the Chorus network.

In January 2024 we introduced a 'net fibre growth' eligibility condition in an attempt to ensure incentives were rewarding RSPs to grow overall fibre uptake and address any churn from Chorus fibre. This growth was measured at an individual RSP level.  

There has been some feedback since the introduction of that condition that an individual RSP’s fibre connections volume is negatively impacted by 'fibre to fibre' RSP transfers i.e. the end-customer transfers away from that RSP but is staying on fibre, but this is currently counted as a lost connection for the RSP.

As a result of RSP feedback, and our own monitoring of the effectiveness of the condition in achieving our objective, we reviewed possible alternative ways to address this challenge. Therefore, we consulted on a revised approach which would eliminate transfers from our calculation.

RSP feedback

• We received positive feedback in respect of the proposed change in the condition e.g.  “It’s a clear concept that makes sense for Chorus to be focused on growing their fibre footprint”
• Some considerations that were noted included:
  • Accurately and timely reporting needed – we intend to support with at least a weekly view (possibly even daily)  
  • Maintain ‘partial’ payments (i.e. where an RSP misses the net fibre growth condition, it still receives a partial incentive payment) (provides certainty)

Revised Growth Condition  

Based on the feedback from the consultation we can now confirm that we are introducing the revised condition to be applied from 1 March 2025 (for the balance of the current RSP FY25 Incentives term i.e. until 30 June 2025). The varied term is summarised below:

• The revised condition means that the calculation of net fibre growth for an RSP (from the RSP’s connection base at the start of the month) will measure ‘New Connection’ orders (Connect Primary, Connect Secondary, Connect and Replace, Connect additional ONT order types) LESS ‘Disconnection’ orders (Disconnect Primary, Disconnect Secondary) for the month;
• The revised condition removes Transfer orders (Transfer Primary, Transfer Secondary order types) from the equation, so if an RSP loses a connection to another RSP via a transfer order then there is no impact to incentive eligibility;
• If the net fibre growth is positive (taking into account our current tolerance of 20) then an RSP will be eligible for 100% of incentives, if it is not positive, an RSP will only be eligible for 67% of incentives credits (as per current condition).

If you had previously opted for the ‘3 month rolling average’ methodology for the current condition, then this will apply to the revised condition, but the exclusion of transfers will not apply retrospectively (i.e. for the January/February/March months, December and January will be calculated including transfers, and March will be calculated excluding transfers, and the three month rolling average then applied to that total).

What do you have to do?

The terms of the current Offer have been updated to show this change (as applicable from 1 March 2025) and available on the SP website. There is no requirement to sign the new offer if you have already opted in for the previous offer.

Contact

If you have any questions, then please reach out to your Customer Engagement team.