High speed broadband cabinets switched on

High speed broadband cabinets switched on in Birkenhead and Northcote

Thousands more Birkenhead and Northcote residents will soon be able to benefit from high speed internet access as local telecommunications network operator Chorus begins switching on new fibre fed cabinets.

Over the next six months Chorus will deploy 36km of fibre optic cable and install 37 new roadside cabinets to extend ADSL2+ broadband speeds to customers not already within reach of faster broadband following upgrade work at the local telephone exchange.

So far four new cabinets have been turned on in Belle Vue Road, Agincourt Street, Akoranga Drive, Tarahanga Street areas and these provide service to more than 860 customers located within the immediate vicinity.

This massive investment programme will build on the 640km of fibre optic cable already in the North Shore network and is part of Telecom’s commitment to enable the delivery of broadband connections of at least 10Mbps to 80 percent of New Zealanders by the end of 2011.

Chorus Head of Field Services Ed Beattie said each cabinet is the equivalent of a mini telephone exchange.

“We’re installing new fibre fed cabinets which contain ADSL2+ broadband equipment previously located in the local telephone exchange. The cabinets are required for these customers because the closer you are to the broadband equipment the faster your broadband speed is.

“Around half of homes connected to the new cabinets will be within five hundred metres of our fibre optic cable network and ninety percent within one kilometre. This provides an ideal springboard for even faster broadband speeds in the future through VDSL2 technology and fibre to the home,” he said.

Birkenhead and Northcote customers who are near the local telephone exchange will continue to receive service directly from the broadband equipment located at the exchange.

Mr Beattie noted that although the broadband network is being upgraded, customers also have an important part to play in making the most of the new faster broadband capability.

“A customer’s broadband service is also affected by factors including their broadband plan, modem, computer, and the wiring in their home or business.”

Chorus plans to upgrade 289 cabinets and deploy about 220km of fibre optic cable on the North Shore before the end of next year. The rollout of cabinets in Browns Bay, Murrays Bay, Mairangi Bay, Castor Bay and Albany has nearly been completed, and work is now beginning in Birkenhead, Northcote, Devonport, Milford and Beach Haven.

In all, Chorus is over two thirds through the roll out of about 3,600 fibre fed cabinets nationwide and they will connect several thousand kilometres of fibre optic cable to Telecom’s 26,000km fibre optic network within the next twelve months.

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Fibre-fed cabinet facts

• Chorus has been upgrading cabinets across more than 20 centres around New Zealand. Taupo and Greymouth were the first towns to have their broadband upgrades completed
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• About 750,000 customers will be connected to Chorus’ cabinets by the end of 2011
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• Each cabinet will generally service up to 300 customers
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• The cabinet body is made of 240kg of marine grade aluminium
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• Cabinets are coated in a special paint to facilitate graffiti removal
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• They contain battery back-up power supply as well as a generator connection in case of power-cuts
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• At full load a cabinet uses 1200 watts, the same power as a one-bar heater
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• They are designed to limit noise to about 30 decibels, just above the level of a whisper
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• 650 key parts in each cabinet (1,150 including fastenings)
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• 2 tonnes of concrete per cabinet base
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About Chorus

Chorus is the operationally separate Telecom business unit that manages the local access network in New Zealand. The Chorus network is made up of local telephone exchanges and copper or fibre optic cables that connect approximately 1.8 million New Zealand homes and businesses. Its field service technicians visit more than one million homes and businesses each year to install or repair phone or internet services for a range of telecommunications providers.

Information on Chorus’ high speed broadband project can be viewed online at: http://www.chorus.co.nz/enhancing-the-broadband-network

The Telecom Group's fibre optic network can be viewed online at www.broadbandmap.govt.nz

ENDS

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