Getting connected to fibre

Fibre, also referred to in New Zealand as Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) uses fibre optic cable to deliver your broadband connection.

Fibre provides faster, more reliable broadband to your home and enables you to connect to many products and services.

The national UFB roll-out is happening in stages and some urban areas may not have fibre installed in their street until 2019. Once fibre is installed in your street it is then available for installation to your home.

Check if you can already access fibre or when your area is due to get fibre, using this broadband availability address checker.

If fibre is not available in your area there may be other services like VDSL or you may even be covered by the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI).

Talk to your service provider about what options are available at your address.

The government’s four partnering Local Fibre Companies (LFCs) (Chorus, Enable Networks, Northpower Fibre and Ultrafast Fibre) are rolling out fibre throughout New Zealand.

Each LFC covers a different geographic area. Each LFC, works directly with your service provider to arrange your fibre installation.

There are many service providers throughout New Zealand that provide a wide range of products and services over fibre.

To find out which service providers operate in your area, use the National Broadband Map. 

Before you sign up and change to fibre, here are some questions you should ask your preferred service provider first:

1. How much does it cost?
2. What happens during the installation process?
3. Do I need to upgrade my WiFi, modem or premises wiring?
4. Will the installation impact on my medical alarm?
5. Will the installation impact on my security alarm?
6. What will I need to do?

Connecting to fibre requires the installation of a fibre optic cable between your home and the street plus a new modem inside your home.

Learn about the fibre installation process.

UFB offers higher speeds than ADSL and VDSL broadband and has the ability send more data simultaneously.

This means you can easily stream content such as music, upload, game, use video calls, watch movies and more in your home at the same time.

This means no glitches in gaming, no need to wait for your favourite TV show to buffer while someone is video calling on another device at the same time.

There is also little disruption to your broadband when other people in your neighbourhood are online at peak times.

Fibre is currently available on different plans in different speeds. Your choice will depend on where you live, what speed is available to you and your usage. Most providers are offering unlimited plans at competitive pricing, however if you choose a plan with a data cap your monthly connection fee will be reduced slightly.

Contact your preferred service provider for more information on pricing plans.

View the estimated speed of fibre and other types of broadband

With the installation of UFB you will no longer require a copper line. The copper itself will generally remain in place. In the future it is possible that legacy copper will be removed following consideration by the Government and industry.

Some services rely on a fixed copper connection to operate. Before you switch to fibre, check with your service provider that these services will still work as you may have to contact the equipment provider to upgrade that service equipment.

You will probably need to upgrade your premises wiring, software and/or other technology to gain maximum performance from your fibre connection.