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New Zealand To Bring Ultrafast Internet To 85 Percent Of Population (stuff.co.nz)

Ultrafast broadband is coming to more than another 200,000 homes, but doubts are already being expressed that the expansion of the network isn't quite ambitious enough. From a report: Another 423,000 people will be able get ultrafast broadband (UFB) by the end of 2024 as a result of a long-awaited decision to expand the network. Prime Minister Bill English said UFB would be extended to more than 151 additional towns, on top of the 33 cities that are already getting the service. The expansion will mean UFB will be available to "up to 85 per cent" of the population, up from the 75 per cent coverage that is planned to be delivered by 2020.

147 comments

  1. With an small download cap! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    With an small download cap!

    1. Re:With an small download cap! by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 3, Insightful

      With an small download cap!

      In USA, we much rather charge more for less than build out infrastructure.

      --
      ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
    2. Re:With an small download cap! by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      With an small download cap!

      In USA, we much rather charge more for less than build out infrastructure.

      Anything else would be a disservice to the stockholders - where do your loyalties lie, exactly?

    3. Re: With an small download cap! by ememisya · · Score: 1

      That would go against the name they picked for the project. It's Ultra fast. Beyond the very concept of high speed. I can't quite wrap my head around the concept of going past the very idea of what fast already is, but I have a feeling they offer the same thing at Bed Bath & Beyond. Lets hope it doesn't cause nuclear fission.

    4. Re:With an small download cap! by alavaliant · · Score: 5, Informative

      That would have been true perhaps a year or two back. Now in New Zealand almost all isps started offering an uncapped plan, I've been one one for some time now.

    5. Re:With an small download cap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nope.
      NZ$75 (US$54) gets you unlimited 100/30 with no traffic shaping , no port blocking, no data caps, just Naked Broadband, net neutrality service.

      ALL ISPs(over 20 last time I looked) are accessible as they pay a per customer wholesale rate set by the government and they differentiate themselves by having "additions", e.g. discount if you have cellular service with them, a local customer support office, lightbox (netflix competitor).

    6. Re:With an small download cap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      I have UFB at home, its a 1000/500 connection with no data cap. Data caps aren't really a thing anymore in New Zealand, most ISPs moved away from that model a while back.

    7. Re:With an small download cap! by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      And how much speed to you get to a USA or Europe based server? NZ is "far" from most of the Internet. They can sell you a gigabit connection but saturate the oceanic cable. What matters is what speed do you get out of your island?

    8. Re:With an small download cap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It drops with distance a lot, but its better than you might expect. I get 700-900 to Sydney which is where the vast majority of the servers and content for oceania are hosted. I have a Usenet provider I believe is in the US and I have no trouble pulling down a couple hundred megabit from them.

      In reality most of our data does not come from the US or Europe any more, everything is duplicated and hosted in CDNs much closer. The sort of sites that are not locally hosted are not pushing large amounts of data anyway so there is still more than enough speed.

    9. Re:With an small download cap! by grimfate · · Score: 2

      I have the 1000Mbps plan too and the fastest speed I have seen while downloading is from Steam, which was a little over 30MBps, i.e. 240Mbps, although I'm not sure where the nearest Steam server is. Of course, Steam might have a bandwidth limit, my hard disk might not write faster than that, etc. I think SpeedTest.net said 100-200Mbps to America, but I haven't tested it in a while. Regardless, it's unlikely we'd ever get 1Gbps, at least unless they install new international cables.

    10. Re:With an small download cap! by sit1963nz · · Score: 1

      Judging by how much US people bitch about their ISP, I am guessing we get better speeds than most US citizens.

      The Fibre links to the rest of the world are actually not too bad, and there is possibly going to be another fibre put in within a couple of years, however there is still spare capacity on exiting cables.
      Doing file transfers (Diptrace 3D models for OSX a 1.9GB file) I hit 5MB/s and averaged over 3MB/s while the missus was watching netflix, all on VDSL

      I get Fibre June next year apparently.

      And Weta workshops does not seem to be suffering by being here in NZ.

      The most data I have downloaded according to my ISP is just shy of 2TB in one month, and we have not been less than 600GB for the last couple of years.

    11. Re:With an small download cap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Steam is pretty slow, origin gets 400-500, apparently EA can do something right after all.

    12. Re:With an small download cap! by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      Err, I haven't had a download cap here in NZ for many years, I don't know of anyone who doesn't choose an unlimited plan.
      Glowing strands of fiber in my living room (everyone gets two strands of fiber in fact for future proofing!), can't beat that! Everyone who has access to fiber can get Gigabit Internet now.
      New overseas pipes also going live shortly.
      Also, we have one of the fastest 4G networks in the world, that's because we DO have caps on mobile data usage.
      NZ Internet has come a LONG way in the past few years, was stone age in 2011.

    13. Re:With an small download cap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry guy, totally wrong.

      I have UFB at home, NZD$90 a month for 100/30 - goes like stink. NO DATA CAP.

    14. Re:With an small download cap! by Charcharodon · · Score: 2
      No idiots in the US would rather give internet, phone, and cable companies local monopolies for what ever reason that kills competition.

      Currently I live in Tampa where we have excellent internet service where you can get it. Unfortunately HOAs, apartment complexes, and some counties have implemented deals that give only 1 service provide access to customers. In those places you can get service that is so so for way to high of a price..

      Luckily I live in none of those places. On a lark just called up Frontier. My $75 a month no contract service for 75/75Mbit speeds is now $65 a month for 100/100Mbit speeds.

      I feel your pain though seems in a lot of places they do nothing but gouge.

    15. Re:With an small download cap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get around 600-700 downloading from EU usenet servers, same with steam but that will be a local CDN. The star citizen installer maxes out the connection.
      https://cdn.geekzone.co.nz/imagessubs/blog1925c03f345efee7d31adcb3f195fbc7.jpg

    16. Re:With an small download cap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shouldn't be, nobody I know on UFB has a cap.

    17. Re:With an small download cap! by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      It enables the creation of content, this has been covered many times before. With high speed broadband, content can be readily shuffled back and forth between people, as they work on it. This allows cheaper content creation from home, many people, in many homes, working together without office costs, a huge fiscal burden. They can meet online, organise online and share creation on line, does not even need to be full time, can all be done part time, hugely reducing the need for early capital investment.

      Of course none of this happens if you have shitty broadband like New Zealand's neighbour. I am really surprised that the New Zealand government in not rubbing it in the Australian governments face, especially as the Australian government great new upgrade NBN (that delivered billions into the hands of the people who provided free election campaigning and who all have offshore bank accounts in tax havens) is actually a huge downgrade compared to the New Zealand network. The network that Toxic Tony just had to have and those that remain behind are too embarrassed to scrap instead keeping the scam going to save face.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    18. Re:With an small download cap! by youngone · · Score: 1
      I'm just commenting to back you up. We had a data cap, but then my kids got older and started streaming video, playing games, and whatnot, and the data cap was a giant pain in the backside.

      I'm getting 38 mbps on VDSL, which I'm reasonably happy with, but we do have fibre in our street, so I will look into that.

      The problem is having a shared driveway, I have to get all the neighbors to agree to letting the installers have access which might be hard.

      The other point I wanted on make is the standard of expertise of the installers varies wildly. The original muppets who attempted to install the fibre in our street succeeded only in rupturing the water pipe, sending a spray of water about 5 metres in the air until the water guys came and fixed it. I believe they were sacked, as the next lot looked a bit more professional and must have got things working.

    19. Re:With an small download cap! by LesFerg · · Score: 1

      I have hired movies on youtube in HD, but they always have multiple pauses while waiting for data.
      I don't know where youtube movies are streamed from for NZ tho.

      --
      If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
    20. Re:With an small download cap! by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      Are you saying NZ has a very large (and fast) LAN but its actual connection to the Internet (the outside world) is slow?

    21. Re:With an small download cap! by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      Do you have overhead powerlines/phone down your shared driveway to your house? If so, they'll just string up another wire. That's what they did for us down our shared driveway with three houses between us and the road. Install was done extremely quickly and competently. I believe they did that on the inspection/planning date when they saw what was involved, rather than waiting for the installation date a week later.
      However at my office when I got Fiber installed there (4 offices in block), was the opposite end of the spectrum. Wildly incompetent installation fools (obviously the cheapest contractors they could find), lost paperwork at chorus, installation left holes open to the elements, etc. So it can be a real lottery.
      You'll find the fiber isn't just faster for downloads, but response times (latency) is noticeably lower (browsing the web is snappier) and it's far more robust/reliable than VDSL. Certainly worth upgrading to seeing as you can get it.
      I haven't bothered upgrading to gigabit speed either (even though work is paying for everything), as 100Mbs Fiber basically maxes out WiFi at any rate. Maybe when my kids get older and start streaming multiple 4k content over multiple wifi routers or something... ;-)

    22. Re: With an small download cap! by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      That would go against the name they picked for the project. It's Ultra fast. Beyond the very concept of high speed.

      Huh! I won't sign up for that until they provide ludicrous-speed broadband. I want my router to go plaid.

    23. Re:With an small download cap! by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      For anyone outside NZ, here's the obligatory link to Ultra-fast broadband terminal installed in toilet. The problem with decreeing that everyone gets fibre as quickly as possible is that the quality of some of the work done isn't the highest...

    24. Re:With an small download cap! by Gussington · · Score: 1

      And how much speed to you get to a USA or Europe based server? NZ is "far" from most of the Internet. They can sell you a gigabit connection but saturate the oceanic cable. What matters is what speed do you get out of your island?

      Do you think that a country with a reasonably advanced policy toward the internet haven't heard of CDNs?
      Also, the internet has moved on from the US-centric network of the 90's. Most people these days use the Internet to access local services and content.

  2. Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by bazmail · · Score: 1

    ... as 512kbps ?

    1. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by msauve · · Score: 5, Informative

      Ultra-Fast Broadband is taken to mean the availability of broadband services at a minimum speed of 100 Mbps Downstream (from the Internet to the user) and a minimum of 50 Mbps Upstream (from user to the Internet).

      - CFH, NZ.

      (Since neither the summary nor the linked article could be bothered to say...)

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    2. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      100mbps down is ok, but 50mbps up is pretty cool. Typical asymmetries tend to be 10:1 or worse these days.

    3. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      100 Mbps may sound cool, but remember we're talking about upside-down bandwidth here...

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    4. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      I always wonder about the use of the term "Ultra"

      You aren't leaving yourself any room for expansion in the future.... what is the next speed increase going to be marketed as? super ultra? ultimate ultra?

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    5. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      "Ultra Fast" is such a relative term. I remember when at T1 was "ultra fast", when everyone was on dialup. To me, "Ultra Fast" is meaningless marketing drivel.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    6. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ludicrous speed!

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    7. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why bother?
      64 KB... I mean 100 mbps should be enough for anybody!

    8. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      When you can stream 4K video to every screen in the house, is it fast enough yet?

    9. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just installed 16K VR.

    10. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 2

      Plaid

    11. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Scarred+Intellect · · Score: 1

      I always wonder about the use of the term "Ultra"

      You aren't leaving yourself any room for expansion in the future.... what is the next speed increase going to be marketed as? super ultra? ultimate ultra?

      Plus Ultra.

      Then Double Plus Ultra

      Or maybe Good Ultra, then Plus Good Ultra...Double Plus Good Ultra...

    12. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should consider getting a girlfriend instead.

    13. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Double plus ultra!!1!" obviously.

      Interestingly after that we go to "Double plus ultra!!2!".

    14. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      When you can stream 4K video to every screen in the house, is it fast enough yet?

      4K is a number. 1MB is a number. High speed and ultra fast are useless just as is calling something a "medium sized softdrink". What's wrong with using something like 1M/s or 100M/s or 1K/s? I would even be ok with it being a multiple of something arbitrary or a power of something arbitrary. Cdrom drives used multiples of the first speed so a quad speed was 4 times faster. Horsepower is an approximation of a horse. At least if you created a standard that made sense then everyone could communicate easily. The T1 series, the OC series, and the DS series made sense too: http://www.lageman.com/bandwid... where each one is some order of magnitude faster than the other ones but it would make sense to have something that is technology neutral and also knowable so if someone said DS200 or T45 that everyone would know what speed that is.

    15. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by youngone · · Score: 1

      That's true. If you're not careful all the bits fall out and you have to go a sweep them up.

    16. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by LesFerg · · Score: 1

      That's true. If you're not careful all the bits fall out and you have to go a sweep them up.

      Ha, you should use Linux. Thats why it has sticky bits.

      --
      If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
    17. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by AndroSyn · · Score: 1

      He should consider leaving his mom's basement too...

    18. Re:Also redefines Ultra-Fast... by JoeMerchant · · Score: 1

      Numbers can be factually proven wrong, resulting in the need to invoke alternate facts as the basis of the author's infalliability.

      Statements like "Ultra Premium Super High Speed Deluxe" can never be proven wrong, and thus fly right through technical, legal and marketing approval reviews.

  3. Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is the speed and feed for ultrafast broadband? Here in the US, I'm sure Verizon would say that 1.4 Mbps was ultrafast.

    1. Re:Just out of curiosity by seyfarth · · Score: 2, Informative

      The speeds offered are 30 down/20 up or 100 down/50 up (in Mbps). So it is about like cable internet in the US.

      --
      Ray Seyfarth, ray.seyfarth@gmail.com, http://rayseyfarth.blogspot.com
    2. Re:Just out of curiosity by coinreturn · · Score: 2

      The speeds offered are 30 down/20 up or 100 down/50 up (in Mbps). So it is about like cable internet in the US.

      Except the % of US population with 100/50 availability is much closer to 8.5% than 85%.

    3. Re:Just out of curiosity by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Have you seen how big the US is compared to even ... Europe? Seattle to Miami is about the same distance as London is from Tel Aviv.

      AND we have large chunks of land that have "Ultra Low" populations (Wyoming, Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska ...) where feasibility outside a few population centers is nearly impossible.

      But this is what happens when you have a bunch of elitists planning the lives of everyone else, but who never leave big cities.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    4. Re:Just out of curiosity by tomhath · · Score: 1

      What is the speed and feed for ultrafast broadband?

      What do you mean? European or African ultrafast broadband?

    5. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Have you seen how big the US is compared to even ... Europe? Seattle to Miami is about the same distance as London is from Tel Aviv.

      AND we have large chunks of land that have "Ultra Low" populations (Wyoming, Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska ...) where feasibility outside a few population centers is nearly impossible.

      Ho hum.
      The population density of New Zealand is 17½ per sq.km. The population density of the US is 35 per sq.km (about double New Zealand's), and even higher if Alaska is removed from the calculation. So you fail on the first measure.
      The large chunks of land with ultra low populations makes the population density even higher in those areas which have populations. Again, you fail.

      About 5% (let's be generous, and say 10%) of the US population has access to more than 100Mbps down and 50Mbps up. New Zealand is due to deliver it to 85% of theirs within a couple of years.

    6. Re:Just out of curiosity by alavaliant · · Score: 2

      That's the cheaper basic plans, for a little more you can get 1000/500 Mbps

    7. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We have copper lines to just about everywhere. If we had anyone worth their salt leading this ship we'd have fiber to every residence.

    8. Re:Just out of curiosity by fred6666 · · Score: 2

      is that an excuse to offer crappy slow Internet in populated coastal areas?

    9. Re:Just out of curiosity by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 0

      50 Alaska 1.3
      49 Wyoming 6.0
      48 Montana 7.0
      47 North Dakota 10.5
      46 South Dakota 11.1
      45 New Mexico 17.2

      USA has six states with population density that is less than New Zealand.

      Closest in size is Wyoming at 97,818 mi/sq, Compared to New Zealand at 103,483 mi/sq. You can make all the comparisons you want and try to minimize the huge discrepancy in size, population density and all you do is prove my point. America isn't like most other countries in the world. My point remains

      we have large chunks of land that have "Ultra Low" populations (Wyoming, Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska ...) where feasibility outside a few population centers is nearly impossible.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    10. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are forgetting the 1000/500 plans that are available anywhere fibre is. There is also reasonably good ADSL to about 98% of the population and VDSL to around 70% already so we are starting from a fairly good position.

    11. Re:Just out of curiosity by AF_Cheddar_Head · · Score: 2

      Maybe, but we can't even get decent speeds to areas with a much higher population density.

      Explain to me why 10 miles outside Colorado Springs all we can get is 10/1 DSL or most of Wisconsin outside the cities is in the same boat? FYI the area I live in outside Colorado Springs had a old style rural telephone company that was laying fiber and upgrading the infrastructure until CenturyLink bought them and stopped all infrastructure upgrades and went to charging us for $60 a month and 10/1 advertised that delivers about 2.5/.5 between 6:00PM and midnight. No other provider available.

      The population density argument MAY be valid for portions of the US but not for anywhere east of the Mississippi River or the larger cities in the west.

    12. Re:Just out of curiosity by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      Everyone who can get fiber in NZ can get Gigabit speeds now.

    13. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2024 is "a couple of years" away?

    14. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the other 44 states are nicely wired up by now then? Good to hear, I'll be sure to let them know.

    15. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The large chunks of land with ultra low populations makes the population density even higher in those areas which have populations.

      And that is actually why New Zealand is able to do this. I live in a state that is 1/10th the size of New Zealand but has about 50% more people, so the population density is an order of magnitude higher. Yet it takes the top 8 cities combined to match the population of Auckland alone. New Zealand has seven cities with more than 200,000 people; my state has one. The top 10 cities in New Zealand contain two thirds of the nation's population; the top 10 cities in the US don't even have one tenth of the nation's population. Overall, New Zealand has a slightly higher percentage of its population in urban areas (roughly 85% vs. 80%). Factor in the sheer number of municipalities that make up the US urban population (cities and towns in more than 3,000 counties across the 50 states) and the many different layers of bureaucracy that need to be traversed to get anything done and you'll start to get an idea of how complex a program like this would be in the US. For New Zealand, this requires coordinating about as many municipalities as there are in my county. Get back to me when they've done this 3,000 times in 50 different ways.

      About 5% (let's be generous, and say 10%) of the US population has access to more than 100Mbps down and 50Mbps up. New Zealand is due to deliver it to 85% of theirs within a couple of years.

      (I believe you meant to say "at least" and not "more than" because New Zealand is defining it as at least 100/50, not more than.) In terms of download speeds, you're off by an order of magnitude. No summary numbers are shown on this map from 2016, but a 2014 report put the number at about 60%. Upload speeds vary, with some as high as 100 Mbps for 100 Mbps download service but only 5 Mbps required to count toward these numbers. But that's to be expected with such a diverse infrastructure that has been upgraded several times over more than two decades.

    16. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never been in the US nor in New Zealand, but I do know that you can't simply look at the average population density. When 90% of the population in Alaska would live close together in for example Anchorage and Fairbanks, then it would be easy and relatively cheap to provide fast internet to 90% of the population. And despite the fast internet, Alaska would still have a very low population density.
       
      I live in a region with a population density of about 700 per sq. km, but our villages are all linear villages, meaning that the majority of the people live far away from the nodes while only the happy few live close enough to have fast internet.

    17. Re:Just out of curiosity by rmullig2 · · Score: 1

      That 85% is not until 2020 assuming the construction is on schedule which is hardly ever the case.

    18. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what construction? that's how long it will take to move a few boats of sheep south, and a few ferries of people north to where the larger cities and faster internet already are.

    19. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Because the USA is a Socialist utopia, so we can't haveall those people in Manhatten getting better service than the the sole resident of Imalone, WI.

    20. Re:Just out of curiosity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you seen how big the US is compared to even ... Europe?

      The USA is smaller than Europe, 9.83 million km^2 compared to 10.18 million km^2. The difference is even bigger when you include Greenland. When did the USA become a can't-do country?

    21. Re:Just out of curiosity by seyfarth · · Score: 1

      Then it does live up to the adjective, ultrafast. I found slower speeds. Thanks

      --
      Ray Seyfarth, ray.seyfarth@gmail.com, http://rayseyfarth.blogspot.com
    22. Re:Just out of curiosity by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      If you're going for a certain percent coverage, the states without much population don't count much. However, since they get disproportionate amounts of Federal support, they can get such disproportionate support for Internet connectivity if we elitists decide (and we're much more likely to, being used to propping up rural economies).

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    23. Re:Just out of curiosity by Gussington · · Score: 1

      Have you seen how big the US is compared to even ... Europe? Seattle to Miami is about the same distance as London is from Tel Aviv.

      AND we have large chunks of land that have "Ultra Low" populations (Wyoming, Dakotas, Montana, Nebraska ...) where feasibility outside a few population centers is nearly impossible.

      But this is what happens when you have a bunch of elitists planning the lives of everyone else, but who never leave big cities.

      Australia is not much smaller than the US geographically, with 1/15th the population, and we're rolling out a similar service (expected 95% coverage).
      Enough excuses, the US has a few great things, but for the most part it is like a third world country. And now you have a 3rd world tin pot dictator to match. Good luck with that.

  4. NZ population by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 3, Funny

    The expansion will mean UFB will be available to "up to 85 per cent" of the population

    So basically Auckland.

    1. Re:NZ population by monkeyxpress · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter. If the govt keeps handing out citizenship to billionaires so they can buy up large parts of the country for their private estates without having to seek permission, no New Zealander will be allowed outside of Auckland in a few more years.

    2. Re:NZ population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, that plus the other large cities and their metro areas, so probably less than 10% geographically. When I was there in 2010, Internet access in most towns was available but extremely limited, especially on the South Island. If you were lucky, you could find a hotel that would give you 20MB of data for $20 on an unstable satellite link that would take 10 minutes just to load a single web page. Cell coverage dropped off to nothing outside of the towns, but back then Verizon offered unlimited data for about an extra $1/day over the cost of the regular US data plan, so that was usually the best option for connectivity. I would imagine that things have improved a bit since then, but I doubt they'll be getting this out to the interesting parts of the country by 2020.

    3. Re:NZ population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The expansion will mean UFB will be available to "up to 85 per cent" of the population

      So basically Auckland.

      So, over a MILLION people! [I assume they're only counting people]

    4. Re:NZ population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The expansion will mean UFB will be available to "up to 85 per cent" of the population

      So basically Auckland.

      So, over a MILLION people! [I assume they're only counting people]

      Naaaaah

    5. Re:NZ population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      W0t? Nobody bought Auckland yet? Lemme get my chequebook.

    6. Re:NZ population by sit1963nz · · Score: 1

      No, New Zealand exists outside of Auckland. We are not sure what Auckland actually is any more, but part of New Zealand.... tough call.

    7. Re:NZ population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was embarrassing in 2010, we have come unbelievably far in those 7 years. One of the worlds fastest 4G networks and fibre to most of the population.
      They have spent the last couple of years targeting all the tourist spots with cell towers, still nothing between them but you might be surprised where you would pick it up.
      I fully expected to live out my life with 3rd world communications, no one is more surprised than me.

    8. Re: NZ population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you keep the hobbits from chewing through the fiber?

    9. Re:NZ population by don.g · · Score: 1

      Really? ADSL was available in pretty much any "town". Satellite or fixed wireless if you were rural. I remember tripping around the South Island in 2008 and 2009 without any issues getting internet in the campgrounds I stayed in.

      --
      Pretend that something especially witty is here. Thanks.
    10. Re:NZ population by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      No, New Zealand exists outside of Auckland.

      Only as far as the Bombay Hills. After that it's... I dunno, hobbits? wetas? moas? I suppose there must be something out there, not sure what though.

    11. Re:NZ population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Auckland? The internet in Auckland is shit. I can't get cable and i only 20MBit ADSL with less that 1MB upstream! All this for the very high price of over 80 a month!

  5. Something mega by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kim Dotcom

  6. Whats UFB? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've no idea what 'Ultra-fast Broadband' actually is after reading the article. Do we assume that all new Zealanders and currently on 56K modems and are getting access to ISDN?

    1. Re:Whats UFB? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've no idea what 'Ultra-fast Broadband' actually is after reading the article. Do we assume that all new Zealanders and currently on 56K modems and are getting access to ISDN?

      Ultra Fast Broadband: Bangles LP album played at 78 rpm.

  7. What is UFB by aglider · · Score: 1

    By the way? 50 Mbps? 100 Mbps? 1 Gbps? Was it that difficult to say that?

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
    1. Re:What is UFB by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      "Ultra Fast" is a comparative term, and apart from being relativistic is meaningless. That way, you can always disparage those that have faster / slower internet than this. The "One Percenter" is obviously abusing his wealth, and the poor guy on less than "Ultra" is somehow wronged by those with faster internet.

      Once you realize that terms like this are designed to cause strife and envy, it makes it very clear what the goal is. We NEED government to fix the obvious injustice of internet speeds!
       

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    2. Re:What is UFB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fibre is 1gbps. But the retailer/reseller on the network typically limits the speed based on what you want to pay for it. Just like the electricity network, its been designed for retailers to make money rather than provide a cost effective utility to everyone.

    3. Re:What is UFB by vel-ex-tech · · Score: 1

      No. We need free markets.

  8. Discriminates against Balrogs and Orcs by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> New Zealand To Bring Ultrafast Internet To 85 Percent Population

    But not to underground cities. Clearly, this policy discriminates against Balrogs and Orcs on a racial basis.

  9. Bread and Circuses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or is it the modern-day equivalent of soma?

  10. Re: Poor farmers by Type44Q · · Score: 1
    Q) Why do shepherds wear flowing robes?

    A) Because sheep can hear a zipper from a mile away...

  11. Ultra Fast is relative by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Unfortunately for New Zealand, Ultrafast is relative. They're at the end of the cable. New Zealand connects to Australia which connects to Asia which connects to Europe and North America.

    Since many websites are hosted on severs on "the other end of the cable" they have to bounce around many servers and potential bottlenecks before they get to the server they seek. Sites based in the US and Europe may still take a long time to load for the kiwis.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    1. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well it's more complicated than that:
      http://www.submarinecablemap.com/

      so they have straight connections too.

    2. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Sites based in the US and Europe may still take a long time to load for the kiwis.

      I didn't know sites were based anywhere anymore. The most popular content and also the largest and slowest loading content seems to be on CDNs spread all over the globe. The amount of data that actually crosses the cables is a tiny fraction of the data being delivered to end users these days.

    3. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm, all one needs for ultra fast internet is a competent advert blocker.

    4. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can't tell if sarcasm or not.

      But from personal experience (Australian that has lived in UK and now residing in US) I can say that most websites load slower when I'm in Australia (with the exception of Australian hosted websites which load faster.

      You can also see how much slower Australian websites load when you are loading them from overseas as the issue works both ways. Try going to nine.com.au for example and it will seem to load 'slow'.

    5. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      They couldn't possibly create their own content. Not everything comes out of the US and revolves around them.

    6. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      # of IT workers in the US: 6.5million.
      Population of New Zealand: 4.5 million.

      Of course New Zealand, can and does create their own content, as does Australia; however a decent amount of the websites they visit will have a round trip to a server in Europe or North America. It's a numbers game. Even if New Zealand was fully devoted to IT development they're going to have a lot of content from overseas. With any luck though they can stream "Meet the Feebles" from a local source.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    7. Re: Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Incorrect.

      I pay $NZ 150/month for a 1Gb up 500Mb down unlimited connection in Auckland.

      This is available in 32 other NZ towns and cities, so pretty much everywhere with a population above 10,000.

    8. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck are you talking about?

      http://www.submarinecablemap.com/

    9. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use to work for a company in Wellington that paid for a pretty high end connection. It was still quite slow compared to tech companies in other parts of the world.

      The big limiting factor is the lack of undersea cabling. There are plans to create another fibre connection from Oregon NZ/Australia via Fiji, American Soma and some other islands.

      Until better connections are built, we're not going to see decent connections speed in NZ any time soon.

    10. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't really matter anymore, anything offering large downloads (Netflix, youtube, steam, origin etc) is hosted on CDNs much closer.
      We get near gigabit speeds to Sydney which is where the majority of the countries data comes from, the sort of site hosted solely in the US are either of little interest to us or not pushing enough data to be a problem.

    11. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by sit1963nz · · Score: 1
    12. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by sit1963nz · · Score: 1

      Weta Workshops

    13. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Honestly, the US is not the center of the world.
      Bugger all of our data still comes from there, youtube, netflix, amazon and every other site using CDNs to host their content has local servers. Nothing we would care about using more than a couple of MB is hosted solely in the US.
      Something like 75% of our international data is to Sydney where all the big CDN data centers are, and Sydney is only a 30ms or so hop.

    14. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by baker_tony · · Score: 2

      I don't think people appreciate just how good NZ Internet has gotten in just the past couple of years. Most of the comments I'm reading here are based on well out of date information.
      Unlimited Gigabit fiber speeds and new overseas pipes, some of the fastest 4G in the world as well.

    15. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      There are direct cables to the US from NZ.
      a new "Tasman Global Access" cable will be in operation March 2017 (to Oz) and another direct cable to the US (Hawaiki Cable) active June 2018.
      A further cable to the US is apparently being planned for 2019 as well, concentrating on less lag.
      I have a feeling NZ is setting itself up to be the next Ireland, IT is now NZ's third biggest export.

    16. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      All good news for New Zealand then! I know my friends there complain about everything lagging and IT people there talk about being at "the far end of the internet" looks like New Zealand is proactively making steps to rectify that- good for them.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    17. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      I came back to NZ in 2011. Internet was total rubbish back then.
      Now, it's becoming world leading, amazing transformation, in the past couple of years alone.
      I RDC in to desktops in the US and UK everyday. Both are perfectly usable latency wise, biggest issues are at the UK and US ends where the offices aren't on fiber!
      If I RDC in to my local office from home, it's so good I can happily play video over RDC.
      Really looking forward to those new overseas pipes going in though, just to improve overseas transfer speeds.

    18. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by rh2600 · · Score: 1

      Not entirely true - ie NZ has it's own direct cables to US via Hawaii, and a few adjuncts along the way that also get us into Asia etc. http://www.submarinecablemap.c...

    19. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea nah, 1000/500 here, completely uncapped. $129 a month, not exactly cheap but far from unaffordable and it is available anywhere fibre is.
      More than half the countries connections are now unmetered and almost all new signups are.
      New Zealand is now better off than all but a few percent of the US.

    20. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because Australian internet is terrible. Australian sites load faster in New Zealand than they do in Australia.

    21. Re:Ultra Fast is relative by Gussington · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately for New Zealand, Ultrafast is relative. They're at the end of the cable. New Zealand connects to Australia which connects to Asia which connects to Europe and North America.

      Since many websites are hosted on severs on "the other end of the cable" they have to bounce around many servers and potential bottlenecks before they get to the server they seek. Sites based in the US and Europe may still take a long time to load for the kiwis.

      Never heard of CDNs huh?

  12. "To 85 Percent Population" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who writing headline? Population called "85 percent" get high-speed internet?

  13. Numbers missing from the article by mattdunelm · · Score: 1

    The NZ government defines UFB as a typical connection of 100 mbs download. The New Zealand population, for all the image of isolated sheep farmers, is unually urban. 85% of the population live in towns/ cities, and the cities of Auckland and Wellington alone account for 45% of the population. Altogether, to take another 8 years to get some 4 million people in a well ordered society up to 100 mbs is alarmingly unambitious.

    1. Re:Numbers missing from the article by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      In eight years, what we call "Ultra Fast" today, will be "ultra slow". So it is not only unambitious, it is ultimately meaningless. As a Politician success is pretty much guaranteed, "We brought Ultra High Speed Internet to the masses during my administration", when they did absolutely nothing, except get bribes and kickbacks from Internet Providers. Genius!

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    2. Re:Numbers missing from the article by swb · · Score: 1

      Politician promises vague outcomes over long timelines to group of people likely get something of the outcome anyway, film at 11.

    3. Re:Numbers missing from the article by jabuzz · · Score: 1

      If you read carefully this is a FTTH deployment. As such the hard part is putting the fibre in. Once the fibre is in then changing the optics at each end to go faster is relatively quick and cheap. Looks to be a G-PON deployment, which allows for an easy and seamless upgrade to 10G-PON and 100G-PON is in the works and can coexist with G-PN and 10G-PON. Very very few home users will require anything beyond 100G-PON anytime soon. There is also a NG-PON2 as well that fits in between 10G-PON and 100G-PON in terms of speed.

      The important thing is to get the fibre rolled out.

    4. Re:Numbers missing from the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except this announcement is just an increase in the target percentage from the original 75% to 85%. We are over halfway done with the build to 75% and due to have that completed by 2020. Not exactly a vague promise, a specific addition to a promise that's so far been delivered.
      More than half our population can buy gigabit fibre, 75% will in the next few years, 85% a few years later. There is a separate project running to improve access for the remaining population that wont get fibre, the plan is I believe, 98% to get at least 10Mbit.

  14. Slashdot editing by asvravi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yet again, up to the readers to do the job of the editors for them. How fast exactly is Ultra-Fast? Here is an extract from the New Zealand UFB page which also makes it clear that it is a replacement of existing ADSL with FTTH.

    In particular UFB upload speeds are typically at between 10-50 times faster than ADSL’s average 1MB/s upload.

    The most popular offerings (utilising GPON technology) are currently:

    – 30Mb/s download, 10Mb/s upload
    – 100Mb/s download, 50Mb/s upload

    Businesses and other organisations are able to purchase P2P (Point-to-Point) UFB fibre connections of up to 1Gigabit/s (1000Mb/s).

    Editors - get a clue.When you take news articles from all sorts of publications and present them to a largely homogenous readership, you can put in a little bit of additional effort to account for any assumptions the original sources may have made about their readers. Do not teach the slashdot crowd what JavaScript is. Do not assume everybody reading this story on Slashdot is from New Zealand and knows details of what UFB is.

    1. Re:Slashdot editing by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      FYI everyone who has access to fiber has access to unlimited Gigabit Internet in NZ now.

  15. Just what the rest of the world doesn't want... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    More zombie sheep on the Internet.

  16. And where is Zealand? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure it was brought up before, but where is the original?

    I gotz to know!

    1. Re:And where is Zealand? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure it was brought up before, but where is the original?

      LMGTFY...

      http://lmgtfy.com/?q=origin+of+new+zealand+name

    2. Re:And where is Zealand? by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 1

      It's a province of the Netherlands, though it's more commonly written as Zeeland.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  17. Thank god for the Australian aborigines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and their superior internet technology.

    Oh, wait...

  18. New Zealand has couple of big fat pipes by MarkH · · Score: 1

    I think a combined 1000gbit/sec dedicated connectivity to West coast us. So for 4.5million population makes huge sense to make best use of it.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Cross_Cable

    Amazing how much lit and unlit capacity is being strung around world. Once it was cheaper for us to do back haul between continents and back than worry about cross country xfer.

    For apps with not big requirements for low Latency changes where you stick the edge nodes. Imagine one factor behind Netflix and amazon launching in 100+ countries in past 18 months.

    1. Re:New Zealand has couple of big fat pipes by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      It's 5400 gbit/sec but that cable also serves Australia. But let say it was only for NZ, that's still only 1.2 Mbps / person.

    2. Re:New Zealand has couple of big fat pipes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I saw your mother get a couple of big fat pipes last night...

    3. Re:New Zealand has couple of big fat pipes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Luckily two other AU/NZ/US cables are in planning to be built in the next few years and an NZ/AU cable is due to open in a couple of months.
      Southern cross isn't anywhere near capacity yet but in a few years when it is we should have 2-3 extra international links to cover it.

    4. Re:New Zealand has couple of big fat pipes by baker_tony · · Score: 1

      FYI a new "Tasman Global Access" cable will be in operation March 2017 (to Oz) and another direct cable to the US (Hawaiki Cable) active June 2018.
      A further cable to the US is apparently being planned for 2019 as well, concentrating on less lag.

  19. Some clarification by ukoda · · Score: 1

    I am running 100Mbps up and 100Mbps down with a static IP address and unlimited data for NZD$99 a month (~ US $72). I'm told I can now have a 1Gbps service which is tempting but I have yet to max out my current connection.

    More roll out is good news, I know a couple of people who are a few meters short of the current service areas. Yes, like me, they are in Auckland but I know fibre is already available in smaller centers like Levin, where my family is. For farmers it would be great news as DSL services typically don't work on the long copper runs they have, whereas fibre should work fine. I suspect it will be a long time before someone comes up with a cost effective way run fibre out to them so I guess they will remain an unserved 15% for a long time.

    BTW I had a real battle to get connected as I am multi-unit dwelling (4 joined town houses) and Chorus (the cable installer/wholesale provider) will only connect multi-unit dwelling if all properties agree to be connected and only two of us want the service. I wrote to my local MP, the Minister of Commerce and the Commerce Commission. To her credit the local MP contacted Chorus, who had be refusing to connect me for about a year, and they had a change of heart. The installers still tried to connect all four units but only got as far as my unit when they realised the last two units did not sign up for a connection. As a result I actually have 3 fibre connection on my property!

    1. Re:Some clarification by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://ufb.org.nz/speed/

      From this page, "ultra fast" looks pretty normal, and not particularly fast.

  20. Re: Poor farmers by sit1963nz · · Score: 1

    Ahh...Aussies...

    Yet to explain why Koalas have STDs

    And they sing some song about tying a Kangaroo down mate

    Mind you, it was (is?) a prison colony, so it probably started when some poor Aussie creature sniffed a bar of soap

  21. 85% are sheep by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

    I don't think they care about a baaaad connection

  22. See: Australia by Namarrgon · · Score: 2

    Population density of NZ is nearly half that of the US (17 vs 32 heads/km2), with similar urbanisation (85 vs 80%). Sure there's more to cover in the US, but many more customers to pay for it, and the US has had a pretty big head start. Even Australia started building a similar plan some years back - and we're almost as big as the US but with a population density of only 3 heads/km2.

    Australia knows all about ultra-low population areas, yet is still targeting 93% coverage, using wireless and satellite where needed. So it's absolutely possible for the US to do far better than it has. You're right about the elitists being the problem, but maybe wrong about who and why - it's not because they don't know what's involved, but simply because the telco executives are already making fat profits from their existing territories and are not interested in competing further.

    --
    Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    1. Re:See: Australia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately you are a bit out of data with Australia's rollout. It was 93% fibre, and it was a great plan, in fact NZ basically copied it.
      Now though its mostly poorly upgraded copper, in fact I believe I heard NZ was selling is obsolete DSLAMS to Aus. Your fibre rollout stopped around 40%.
      Turnball owes you a lot, you've been set back by at least a decade.

    2. Re:See: Australia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Australia is not targeting 93% anymore :(

    3. Re:See: Australia by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

      Sadly true, our local conservatives downgraded the plan significantly when they got into power. Although our fibre rollout is mostly stalled at 39%, we're still on track to get minimum 25 Mbps to every premise, with 90% of wired premises at minimum 50 Mbps.

      By contrast, 39% of the rural US still can't get 25 Mbps. Cities are a lot better, with the large majority having access to 100 Mbps, but nearly all of those are available only from a single ISP. Australia's NBN has a single, government-owned wholesaler with all participating ISPs competing to provide retail services to customers.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    4. Re:See: Australia by complete+loony · · Score: 1

      ... with all participating ISPs competing ...

      By not paying NBNco enough of their CVC charge. IMHO the CVC charge should be abolished. NBNco are building a fiber network that should be able to cope with future speed requirements. But they are price gouging everyone, and treating that bandwidth as a scarce resource.

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
  23. Gigabit and no caps by jbrizz · · Score: 1

    I can get around 800mbps to a US server, although this is not common but it's usually going to be contention at a router overseas that causes slowdowns, nothing inside the NZ ISPs control. And I don't know many people with caps anymore, I have used ~10TB a month and my ISP doesn't care. Lots of people still on 30/50mbps plans, but these are generally grandfathered plans. The base plan for many ISPs is 100/20 now which is about 50USD. My 1000/500 plan is 90USD. They even dug up my 60m driveway to install the fibre duct for free. Can't complain about Internet service in NZ at all now.

  24. Re: Poor farmers by LesFerg · · Score: 1

    Yeah but at least after we have finished with the sheep we export them to Australia.

    --
    If I had a DeLorean... I would probably only drive it from time to time.
  25. RATIONAL download caps. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have seen no discussion for download caps based on communications destinations; meaning, caps on internet traffic that goes outside a nation or country (or an island like New Zealand or what California once was in the 1800's). There is the MTU value for routers to favor faster or lesser expense communications, and the problem I see was that ICANN being an arbitrary phonebook style of war-powers communications registry, but then there is actual commerce over transmissions that go non-domestic outside a local network.

    Shouldnt the cap only apply to network communication to other countries? Should a tariff and Customs department be more interactive to network station operators?

  26. New Zealand has extremely bad Internet coverage by oboisti · · Score: 1

    NZ has the worst Internet coverage of any country I have ever visited (and that includes many so-called developing countries such as Indonesia). It is possible to drive the main highway for almost 400 km from Wanaka to Franz Joseph without any cell phone coverage. Of course there is no fiber either and that area was not listed on the map referred in the article. So people traveling the road need to wait beyond 2024 for an improvement! That is simply unbelievable in any developed country.

    1. Re:New Zealand has extremely bad Internet coverage by Gussington · · Score: 1

      NZ has the worst Internet coverage of any country I have ever visited (and that includes many so-called developing countries such as Indonesia). It is possible to drive the main highway for almost 400 km from Wanaka to Franz Joseph without any cell phone coverage.

      I'm not sure if this is a joke or not.
      Wanaka to Franz Josef is probably one of these most isolated roads on the planet. It is a national park and world heritage site, and one of these reason this area gets used for filming Lord of the Rings is precisely because there is no-one there (outside ignorant tourists).
      In the towns and cities, the Internet is pretty much the same as any developed country, good in some spots, not as good in some others. At least the govt has the vision to address this.

    2. Re:New Zealand has extremely bad Internet coverage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why on earth would you expect cell phone coverage on mountain roads in the middle of national parks with no population?
      I highly doubt the US has strung thousands of cell towers through the Appalachian mountains either.