The New Zealand government and Crown Fibre Holdings have reached agreement with Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) partners Chorus, Enable and Northpower that provides for free residential connections for distances of up to 200 metres per house from the road, until at least the end of 2015. Northpower and Enable were previously only required to fund installations for residential customers that involved distances of up to 30 metres for buried fibre, 60 metres for aerial and 100 metres for approved conduit or open trench. Chorus funded the first 15 metres of new trenching to connect a home, or up to 100 metres of fibre where there is an available duct, or a single overhead aerial span. The additional funding will be used to cover the cost of connecting residences that are beyond these, up to 200 metres. This offer does not affect the capital expenditure guidance Chorus has previously provided. Chorus expects to spend between NZD 450 and 480 million on fibre capital expenditure this financial year, the company said. The remaining UFB partner company, Ultra-Fast Fibre, which operates in the central North Island, has already undertaken to provide free residential connections until 2019. It is the government's intention to continue to work towards residential connections being free with the other UFB partners until the end of 2019, when the network build finishes.
