Availability of Broadband

[KiwiHopeful]

I may have mentioned in another post--not that I expect everyone to remember everything I write!--that my wife is taking her job with her to NZ. Vital to that proposition, however, is having reliable high-speed internet access. I haven't had much luck finding *recent* information about the quality and price of broadband connections.

Am I correct in assuming that in the cities--Chch in particular--access is better than in the wopwops? And, for what it's worth, what could I expect in the wopwops, just in case I end up out there for my job?

[Dawn]

Originally Posted by KiwiHopeful

Chch in particular--access is better than in the wopwops? And, for what it's worth, what could I expect in the wopwops, just in case I end up out there for my job?

Wopwops? Wopwops? I just love your vocabulary KH I can guess what wopwops are but if we said that here we'd get arrested!

[Taffy]

Hi KH,

Broadband is usually pretty good in NZ. It's the same as most other places though - the further you live away from your nearest exchange, the lower the quality or likelyhood of getting it at all. We live semi-rural, and the best we can get is 3.5mb download by 160kbps upload, but my office in the city centre gets 8mb download by 360kbps upload.

Auckland and Wellington can get fibre optic internet, and pretty much anywhere else in the country can get satellite broadband (for a price!).

Prices for normal phone line broadband are based on bandwidth usage (all connections speeds are 'fast as your line can go') and range from $29 per rmonth for 1GB usage, to $50+ for unlimited usage. I think Telecoms unlimited plan is on hold at the moment though, because the phone system couldn't handle the traffic!

[KiwiHopeful]

TY Taffy!

If I interpret your post correctly, most of the broadband is DSL. coming through the phone lines rather than through a coaxial cable (like with cable TV)?

$50 per month seems fairly reasonable to me, since I pay more than that in US dollars currently! Plus, I'm hoping that my OH can bill that back to her employer.

[Taffy]

Hi KH,

Yeah, pretty much all of it is DSL, except parts of Aucks and Welly who also get fibre optic (which is cable). I forgot to mention that some places also get Wireless through Wired Country, but their coverage outside the main centres isnt huge, and it's also quite pricey.

[moggy]

speaking as a liver in the wopwops areound chch - try 31K on a good day I get the heady heights of 41K

broadband around chch is not good, speed is not good..
I can say this as OH installs broadband and cable TV

You do have the option of wireless broadband in many places not served by cabel though, but that is more expensive with larger start up fee to buy the equipment

[MotherBear]

Govt eye on broadband to help win rural vote
Page 1 of 2 5:00AM Thursday June 28, 2007

The poor state of phone and internet services in rural areas is back on the agenda and Communications Minister David Cunliffe has sent a strong hint that the Government is considering building a network to plug coverage gaps.

"I want to say that I am hearing loud and clear from farmers and rural New Zealand a great deal of disquiet about the state of the network," Cunliffe told a conference in Auckland this week.

"Quite clearly, there has been a history of under-investment in rural telecommunications, and we want to see that turned around."

What exactly the Government has in mind for farmers is far from clear. The last publicly funded foray into rural broadband was in the form of the flawed Project Probe, which was designed to connect rural schools and communities but did little for competition as Telecom picked up the lion's share of the money.

Cunliffe's timing, a few years after Probe, is impeccable. By the time any plan for a new Government-funded rural broadband project has worked its way through the Cabinet and into the planning stage, we'll be in the run-up to an election.

Given the recent politicisation of the broadband issue since the Government moved in to open up Telecom's copper-line monopoly, rural broadband is likely to be one of Labour's key election pledges.

The same situation has just played out across the Tasman where Prime Minister John Howard and his Government, facing an election later this year, have just committed more than $1 billion to allow Opel - a private partnership of telecoms operator Optus and rural services provider Elders, to build a wireless broadband network covering hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in rural Australia.

More here .

[KiwiHopeful]

Originally Posted by moggy

speaking as a liver in the wopwops areound chch - try 31K on a good day I get the heady heights of 41K

broadband around chch is not good, speed is not good..
I can say this as OH installs broadband and cable TV

You do have the option of wireless broadband in many places not served by cabel though, but that is more expensive with larger start up fee to buy the equipment

Is that regular old dial-up out there?

[MotherBear]

Internet users in line for cheaper connection
Page 1 of 2 5:00AM Wednesday July 04, 2007
By Helen Twose

From September, broadband customers will be able to connect to the internet without paying Telecom for a phone line for the first time.

Under an agreement reached by the telecommunications industry, Telecom will sell a service to its wholesale customers - the likes of CallPlus, Orcon, ihug, WorldxChange and its own retail arm - which will give consumers access to the internet without paying up to $43 for line rental.

The broadband connection will still be provided via the copper phone line service.
The agreement came out of industry negotiations and will be incorporated into Government regulation of telecommunication services.

Graham Walmsley, head of wholesale at internet company CallPlus, said the changes would mean consumers could elect to get rid of their phone line in favour of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone services - phone calls using the internet.

CallPlus have offered VoIP services to its business customers since 2001 and to residential customers since 2004.

"The products are already there, it's been gaining the access that is the inhibitor," said Walmsley.

Initially, the quality of voice calling may be affected by speed and connection conditions on the internet outside the control of the internet service provider.

However, from the middle of next year the voice service will improve as Telecom upgrades its network and offers a dedicated voice channel for internet calling.

More here .

[MotherBear]

The truth about Kiwi broadband
5:05PM Friday July 27, 2007
By Matt Greenop

Many Kiwi broadband subscribers are using the internet at snail's pace. Photo / John Stone

Many of New Zealand's broadband providers are over-promising and under-delivering on line speed, according to a survey of readers.

A large number of subscribers are getting a lot less than they pay for, with some forking out for so-called broadband and being lumbered with not much more than dial-up pace.

The survey this week of nzherald.co.nz readers asked those with broadband to run a speedtest on their connections and then tell us the results.

It was conducted using Speedtest.net.

More here