How is the UFB network built?

There are three stages to receiving services over UFB: the Local Fibre Company (LFC) will build distribution fibre down your street, then they will put in a connection ( the service line or “drop” from the street) to your home, school or business; and finally inside your building you’ll have your computer and other devices connected to an Optical Network Termination point (ONT).

1.) Constructing the network in your neighbourhood

The UFB  initiative is building what is known as the “last mile”, that is the fibre connection from the exchange, or the cabinet, to your door.  Generally there will be a period of up to six months between confirmation of building in an area and the work commencing. You will be advised several weeks in advance of when work is starting in your street. The LFC/Chorus will let you know when work will get underway, they’ll tell you when or if you should make alternative parking arrangements and will ensure the work site is safe. The time it takes to build the network in your street will vary depending on whether the build is overhead or, as in most cases, underground. Deployment is also affected by local geology, for example whether you live on volanic rock or alluvial soils.

 

Indicative only. Local circumstances may vary.

2.)   The UFB service line or “drop” from your property boundary to your building 

Once the network is in place in your street, either you might choose to respond to a promotion by a Retail Service Provider (generally an Internet Service Provider or telecommunications company) or the LFC/Chorus may invite you to have a service line put in as they go past your door.  The line can be strung from a pole or run underground from a fibre access point on the boundary. This will largely depend on the type of deployment in your street. Whichever way the “drop” is delivered to your building, it will extend to what’s called an “External Termination Point”  (ETP). Just like the current copper service, the ETP is a small box fixed to the outside wall. LFCs/Chorus do not charge your service provider  for a standard installation but an up front charge may apply if your drop is longer than the standard length. You are best to confirm if there’s a cost when you buy a service.

 

 

3.) Inside your home, school or workplace 

You can get set up for fibre when you get the service line. The installer will put a small box called an Optical Network Termination (ONT) point inside the building, and connect it to the External Termination Point. Generally the ONT is located in a central place in the building, near the other devices you’ll want to run over fibre. It needs a power source and you may request a battery backup in the event of an emergency.

Your Retail Service Provider may invite you to purchase a Residential Gateway. This connects to the ONT as well as your TV, your phone and your computer or laptop. It can be linked to devices over a fixed connection, or wirelessly, and it will replace your old broadband modem or DSL router. If you’ve got an alarm, that will be connected to your fibre service line directly via the ONT. If you’ve got a fax machine, that can also be connected.

Indicative only. Individual circumstances may vary.

 

Deployment Standards

Work has been going on to develop common standards for use in building the Ultra-Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband networks to encourage responsible, fast, efficient and cost effective fibre roll-out.  The Deployment Standards Initiative (DSI), was a joint project between the Ministry of Economic Development (MED), Crown Fibre Holdings and the Digital Auckland Working Party to arrive at a set of common deployment standards.   The standards are expected to be incorporated into a Utilities Code which will have regulation status under the Utilities Access Act 2010.

Following a pilot of shallow and micro-trenching technologies in Kelson, Hutt City in late 2010, a DSI Working Group conducted two rounds of consultation on draft standards throughout 2011.  Stakeholders included Corridor Managers, Asset Managers and Council Planners. As a result of the consultation, standards were developed for shallow trenching, directional drilling and aerial deployment. By January 2012, the DSI team had completed the final draft of the Optical Fibre Deployment Standards. This was then handed over to the New Zealand Utilities Advisory Group for subsequent inclusion in the Utilities Code.

 

 

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