We have identified an opportunity of ~17 000 apartments that could be connected on Chorus fibre network. These apartments are concentrated in just 283 reticulated buildings across New Zealand.

Managers of large apartment buildings have told us that the barriers to fibre uptake are:

1. The current “piecemeal” installation approach – when fibre installs are undertaken on a by request basis, building management are often required to make time to liaise with different technicians and faced with an inconsistent install experience; and
    
2. Tenants need access to the internet quickly and can’t/won’t wait for fibre installs – in the apartments which have short-tenure tenants are unlikely to request fibre if they perceive any kind of wait for fibre to be installed.

What’s the trial about?

To see if we can overcome these barriers and convert these large scale fibre opportunities, we’ll be trialling two new processes to install fibre to 10 apartment buildings between now and the end of June:

Process 1: In 6 buildings, we will install an optical network terminal (ONT) to every unit without disconnecting any existing copper services.  Once install is complete, you will be able to connect these residents to a fibre broadband service remotely which is faster and easier.  

Process 2: In 4 other buildings, we want to work with you to secure bulk connection orders before the installation window. This enables us to install and connect your customers in less time and in one visit. 

Supporting details

We’ll be coordinating all the work in a building at once, making it easier for the manager of that building to arrange access for a dedicated team of technicians to carry out the work.

We’ll also be keeping residents informed throughout the process, informing them on the benefits of fibre and encouraging them to contact their preferred retail service provider (and/or an aggregator website) once the ONT install is complete.  

These “Chorus led installations” represent a great opportunity to convert copper/offnet connections to fibre and help you earn incentives under our current ‘Mix It Up’ offer.

As we complete installations we’ll be posting <unconnected ONT data - https://sp.chorus.co.nz/product-offer/ont-status-address> as we normally would and will develop a “toolbox” of marketing assets to promote fibre in the common areas of these buildings.

Next steps

You will receive notification of fibre-ready apartments once all the installations in buildings are complete and you can contact customers to connect to fibre.

If you would like to up weight your promotional activity in these buildings to capitalise on these opportunities or would like an introduction to a particular building manager to discuss what might be appropriate, contact your Account team.