About 3,000 Tasman households still reliant on copper phone and broadband services could lose their copper as early as 2027 and most are in areas where fibre is not available.
The Commerce Commission has made a recommendation to the Media and Communications Minister, Paul Goldsmith, to deregulate the copper network from rural areas like it has urban areas and Chorus has plans to begin withdrawing copper in rural areas from 2027.
A Chorus spokesperson says 2030 is its target date for full copper retirement, with withdrawal completed in urban areas in 2026, then rural withdrawal will begin in phases from the following year. Chorus will give a minimum of six months notice to people before it withdraws copper from their area.
In the past two years, about 4,400 copper connections in Tasman have switched to another option. Chorus’ message for the remaining 3,000 or so, which can be just outside urban areas, is to get talking to retail service providers about available options. Right now, 87 per cent of the population in New Zealand has access to fibre and though Chorus says the goal is to increase that to 95 per cent eventually, it will not reach everyone.
Country Kids at Upper Moutere is still on the copper network and centre manager, Nickie Hodgkinson, says the not-for-profit organisation still has to come up with a plan post copper. Every alternative costs money to set up and she says it’s another cost that they have little control over.
Along the Moutere Highway, James Stradling was able to switch to fibre a few years ago because fibre runs along the highway route, but it did cost several thousand dollars to physically lay the fibre to his house.
He says he is fortunate to have the option of fibre because rural communities have generally been left behind, without the fibre the Government has delivered to urban areas. Instead, he says the Government is now relying on the United States-owned Starlink to deliver technology to rural areas.
“If it wasn’t for Starlink, this would be a big deal for everyone. It’s like the Government has decided it doesn’t need to do anything because Starlink is there.”
James says the bonus of being a Chorus customer is that people have someone to contact if things go wrong, which isn’t an option with an overseas company.
The removal of copper also means the end of landline phones and James says many people are still dependent on their landline because of poor cell phone coverage.
He says it’s disappointing that more has not been done to assist rural communities away from copper.
Chorus admits fibre is the gold standard because it is fast, reliable and future-proof. But it is not viable everywhere and other technologies are now available.
“Fixed wireless is already playing a big role in semi-rural areas, and satellite - especially Low Earth Orbit or LEO - is becoming a game-changer for remote communities.”
