Some Jump partners have been approached by parties involved in the delivery of the new Chorus-supported service and are wondering how this impacts the delivery of Jump.
We know this been in the works for some time and we welcome any internet service provider able to provide ‘affordable’ internet. Affordable internet is defined as broadband services that cost consumers no more that $30 a month.
Jump has been delivering affordable internet for 10 years (yes it is Jump’s 10th birthday this year!). But I digress – let me tell you what I know about the new Chorus product. Natalie Lawson is the Social Impact Lead for Chorus, and she been very helpful explaining this new service to us.
But first, just a word about Chorus and how they differ from Skinny, for example. Chorus is the largest Local Fibre Company (LFC) in New Zealand, providing about 70% of the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network infrastructure. LFCs operate as open-access network owners, meaning they build the physical infrastructure and sell wholesale services to retail internet providers (like Skinny or Spark), rather than directly to consumers.
Chorus’ wholesale product ‘Equity Fibre 100’ is retail capped at $30 a month, delivering fibre broadband at 100/20 Mbps. The product is designed to support low-income households in public or community housing or lower-decile school communities who have an inactive fibre connection, and who can show eligibility through a Community Services Card or MSD benefit letter.
The really good news about this product is that it is ‘unlimited’, i.e. there is no data cap. However, the product is focused on households that have inactive fibre connections – these are ones where fibre infrastructure has been installed but where families can’t afford a commercial fibre plan.
The product is delivered by retail service providers (RSPs) – currently there are 4 RSPs offering this new product (see image below from Chorus’ website), but Chorus says they have more in the wings.
So how will this product fit in with Skinny Jump?
We recognise that Jump doesn’t suit every household, e.g. large households with many internet users, where the Jump data cap of 225GB simply isn’t enough, and of course for families in high density housing areas where the 4G cell towers are at capacity. In the 4 months to date this year, we have had to turn away over 130 customers because of no cell tower capacity.
I am particularly excited about how the Chorus service could impact social housing tenants. Many social housing complexes have been ‘fibred-up’, but few tenants have been able to afford a fibre connection. We know of one social housing complex with 200 apartments where over 120 have a Jump connection – purely because this has been the only affordable service. My telecommunications engineering background makes me cringe to think of this – when fixed infrastructure like fibre makes so much more technical sense.
What do we expect from Jump Delivery partners?
The launch of this fibre product could not only help to plug some gaps where Jump is not available or suitable, but also gives partners some more choice when discussing what is most suitable for your customers. So our goal is to help you understand this product and assist your customers make good decisions.
At this stage there are quite a few eligibility barriers that customers will face and they will need your help to navigate these – Chorus explains these on their website:
Fortunately some of the retail providers have good online tools that you can use with your customers to navigate these criteria. Check out this one on Vetta.
And how can you find out whether the schools that your customers’ children go to has an equity index of 490+? You can check it out here.
We are producing an information module for all our Stepping UP partners to help you explain this to your customers, so watch this space. But the important takeaway is that unlike for Jump where you help customers actually connect to the service, all we are hoping that Stepping UP partners can do is where appropriate help customers work through the eligibility criteria for Equity Fibre 100 and then refer them to one of the participating RSPs – they will handle the sign up and service delivery.
Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa 