On May 4 the Commerce Commission will release revised prices for Chorus's unbundled copper network which will once again highlight the pig's ear the government has made of telecommunications here. I know what you're thinking. Who cares about copper when the future is fibre and ultra fast broadband (UFB)?
But the truth is most of us are going to be on copper - for the so called "last mile" to our homes for years to come. I've just checked the areas Chorus has designated will have footpaths dug up for ultra-fast broadband deployment over the year beginning in July and found my suburb (Devonport) isn't one of them. So that means it's probably 2014 before I can even consider an ultra-fast future.
But even if I could get fibre now, I wonder whether I would. I'm currently on a relatively fast digital subscriber line (DSL) service over copper with a 60GB cap, which, with phone, voicemail and call waiting, costs $102 a month. I haven't been able to see for myself, but my current download speeds suggest I wouldn't get a significant improvement moving to an entry-level 30Mbps down/10Mbps up fibre service. To get any real advantage on fibre I'd have to opt for a 100Mbps down/50Mbps up service which is going to cost around $124 a month with 60GB cap.
But at that speed I reckon a 60GB cap will be woefully inadequate - given that I already routinely bust through my existing data cap each month. So I imagine I would end up buying a service with more headroom which is going to set me back quite a bit more - on current price lists around $150-200 a month. In the current economic climate, I'm not sure I can justify the extra spend.
Then there are the extra setup costs - a new router, possibly new wiring in the house and maybe an uninterruptible power supply to ensure you still have a phone line when the power goes out. If your house is more than 15m from the road you could also be in for further connection costs, as Chorus and some internet providers are still arguing about who pays for what in getting the fibre from the road to your house.
Given that Chorus gets paid $1,118 of tax payer's money by Crown Fibre Holdings for every dwelling it passes by with fibre, the idea of stinging those houses set back a little further from the street than others seems like double dipping to me.