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 than traditional copper lines, and enables you to connect to many products and services.

The national UFB roll-out is happening in stages and all cities and towns were part of UFB phase 1 which completed in 2019.  Phase 2 is rolling out fibre to a lot more smaller communities by the end of 2022, at which time about 87% of New Zealanders should have fibre available in their street. 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 wireless broadband which may offer improved performance over existing copper broadband.  If you live in a rural area, you may be covered by the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI).

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

The Government has partnered with four local fibre companies to roll out fibre networks across New Zealand: Chorus, Enable Networks, Northpower Fibre and Ultrafast Fibre.

Each fibre company covers a different geographic area and 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.

Fibre is currently available at different speeds according to the speed of the broadband connection that your provider purchases from the fibre company in your area. Your choice will depend on where you live, what speed is available to you, what you’re doing online, and the number of people or devices using the broadband connection at the same time – the more devices and the more high-intensity activities such as video streaming or online gaming, the faster the connection required.

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 connection. The copper line itself may sometimes remain in place but will be disconnected and no longer function.

Some services based on older technologies may rely on a copper line 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.

Recent changes (effective from Feb 2021) to the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act mean that in most cases landlords must now allow fibre installation to their property (provided it is possible and can be installed at no cost to them) if the tenant has requested this.

Previously, landlords were able to decline the request without having to give a reason.

Click here to find out more.