Speedy fibre installation by Spark and Chorus

A more streamlined fibre installation process is being trialled by Spark and Chorus in New Zealand.

All home owners living in the same street in Whakatane will be upgraded to fibre broadband during the same week and offered the option of selecting which day they would like the installation to take place.

Up to 400 households with Spark copper broadband will have the opportunity for the upgrade in a shortened time frame. This follows a similar pilot conducted recently by Spark and Ultrafast Fibre to upgrade customers in Hamilton.

“Chorus is responsible for around 70% of the UFB rollout, supplying fibre to areas where hundreds of thousands of our customers live,” said Jason Paris, CEO of Spark Home, Mobile and Business.

“We have a great opportunity here to collaborate with them and learn more about ways of making it easier for our customers to get ultrafast fibre into our customers’ homes.”

Nationwide, more than 28% of New Zealanders who have fibre laid in their street have so far chosen to upgrade from copper and both companies are looking to make it as easy as possible for other customers to make the move.

“We are open to working with all other retail service providers in a similar manner, to explore options and learnings that could increase efficiency and further improve the installation experience for customers, as the industry continues to build on the enormous success of ultrafast fibre,” said Tim Harris, Chorus chief commercial officer.

The current process usually involves three site visits, two of which the customer needs to be at home for, typically on different days. By concentrating teams and resources within a small geographic area for the week of the trial, Chorus will be able to deliver an accelerated installation process as teams work collaboratively. The customer should only need to be at home for one day.

The trial will take place in Whakatane in the week commencing 12 December.

Image credit: ©Alphaspirit/Dollar Photo Club