Canterbury town could have 50% fibre uptake in few years

Over 15 per cent of Canterbury town Rolleston's homes and businesses have made the switch to fibre broadband in less than six months, and potentially 50 per cent of the town could be on fibre in a couple of years.

According to Enable, since its launch in the town it has received almost 600 orders for fibre broadband, placing it at almost three times the national uptake rate.

“We announced Rolleston as New Zealand’s first fully fibred town in October last year and this community has embraced fibre broadband like no other,” said Enable CEO Steve Fuller.

“We know almost all homes in new subdivisions will connect to a fibre broadband service. What we’ve been astonished by is how quickly Rolleston residents in established suburbs have made the move.

“We could be looking at a town with 40 or 50 per cent uptake in just a couple of years. This would represent globally significant uptake levels and position Rolleston as the perfect testing ground for retail service and content providers to trial exciting new services that require fibre.”

Fuller puts the uptake down to word of mouth within the community creating a better understanding of the benefits of fibre broadband.

“Once neighbours and friends across a community start sharing how much better their broadband experience is and that there is usually no additional cost, people switch to fibre broadband quickly.”

Enable is providing its fibre broadband services across all of Rolleston’s existing urban areas and into all new subdivisions in the town.

According to the company, the cost of installation of fibre broadband at home is covered by Enable and an internet experience on fibre can be achieved for about the same or even less than what people are currently paying for broadband and telephone services.