12 Sep 2016 – Initial contact from SMARTLINX3
eMail from Roger MacDonald
I saw a recent local press article regarding broadband/UFB availability in the Whitemans/Mangaroa/Timberlea/Plateau Road region etc, and have arranged to meet with Chris Hipkins at the end of the month to discuss the recent survey that he conducted and what can be done to address the issue in the short term given the state of the national level UFB/RBI roll out programmes and the fact that it won’t be until late 2019 that even the areas in the region that will get UFB are outfitted with such.
You may not be aware but Smartlinx3 Ltd is a regional fibre optic and high speed wireless network provider that was created some 8 years ago within the Upper Hutt, Hutt Valley and Porirua regions as a regional telecommunications tool with which to assist in the achievement of outcomes through connectedness in the regions it operates in. The councils of Upper Hutt, Hutt City and Porirua are minor shareholders in the company and it is a shame that the dots haven’t been joined on the issue of your connectivity as there is much that can be done by Smartlinx3 to resolve the connectivity requirements in the region.
We currently operate a number of high speed radio links to residents in the region with stunningly fast speeds and high reliability/availability, and offer services at a rate that is fiercely competitive with any other telco and in most cases even cheaper than the copper based ADSL services that already exist.
Smartlinx3 doesn’t have wireless broadband in Plateau Road – but it would not take a lot of effort to get it there. We have a significant amount of capacity radiating from CBD Towers rooftop to a variety of high points around the Upper Hutt region – tied back of course to our fibre optic backbone – it would be a relatively simple task to put a relay tower up on the ridge to the south of Plateau Road on Mt Marua Way to give a clear coverage of Plateau Road. Notwithstanding that the delivery path would be wireless, with the significant reduction in cost of antenna and improved signal strengths over the past few years, Smartlinx3 would be able to deliver symmetric broadband to homes in Plateau Road at speeds faster than what the Government’s UFB and RBI fibre programmes are currently rolling out around the country and at fiercely competitive rates that would be better than most folk currently get from their UFB/RBI ISPs. We also with one of our partner ISPs are prepared to migrate customers at no cost to UFB when these sorts of fibre services eventually arrive in the region.
It would be entirely possible to feed more than 100 high speed broadband connections from one of our radio base stations. The equipment at the customer end would comprise a wireless antenna (very small footprint able to handle anything up to circa 200Mbps, but we have larger antenna able to handle up to 1Gbps if required). This then connects to a wireless access point in the house and thence to a regular wireless modem/router that will enable you to hook up phone and internet services in a standard household manner. There are a number of ways that we have of getting the relay base stations put up and it may well be that Upper Hutt City Council would contribute or assist in that if it was achieving an outcome for its ratepayers – which I am sure it would be.
As Smartlinx3 has a community focus and was designed to make it easy for both wireless and fibre customers to connect, we are happy to work at minimal cost and to work in with folk doing a lot of the work themselves to minimise the cost to connect.
Would you and any of the residents in Plateau Road like to meet and discuss connectivity – we are happy to meet early in the evening if that best suits.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Roger MacDonald
Managing DirectorSMARTLINX3 LTD
26 August 2016 – Press Release
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/83472161/frustration-over-slow-rural-broadband-sparks-petition
The MP recently surveyed all those living in Mangaroa, Whitemans Valley, Kaitoke, and the Akatarawa Valley.
“Internet service providers get an average satisfaction rating of just 3.69 out of 10,” he said.
“I have been regularly following up these issues, but the Government and the service providers have continued to deny the true extent of the problem.”
He has written to the Broadcasting Minister, Upper Hutt City Council and Spark, Vodafone and Chorus.
Chorus media and PR manager Nathan Beaumont said the company had completed everything they were contractually obliged to do under the Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative, which didn’t cover Plateau Rd.
Economics stood in the way of upgrading the infrastructure to increase broadband speeds in this area , he said.
“It would likely cost more than $100,000.”
By the way : we are not RURAL!
25 August 2016 – Survey results released by Chris Hipkins
19 Feb 2016 – Petition to Chris Hipkins
16 February 2016 – My follow up with MP
eMail to local MP
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.
Hi Chris
Would like to meet up with you to discuss a path to correct the crap internet service we have on Plateau Road, Te Marua, due to our street being the only street in NZ not upgraded to broadband due to govt decisions to switch rollout plans with Chorus (Information spin from Chorus).
We are on 1MB download and 300KB upload – on a happy day.
The farm across the stream (my neighbor) has a 5MB connection.
The exchange is about 4 km from our street and I’m told that even if this was moved to the bottom of our street we would see a marvelous improvement without having to dig up or lay wire.
My boys went on a petition signing adventure and we have a nice handful.
I’m done talking to ISP’s, “Spark” and Chorus and I would love to have you light a firecracker under some bums.
We run a home business (websites and photography) so it would be wonderful to actually be able to work online, not have to make a cup of tea while waiting, and not have to apologise to clients for poor internet services. See my latest issue with a supplier below – clearly I cannot resolve this with ISP’s (ours is Orcon and they lease the line from Spark) as they don’t give a fck or care.
If you are not able to take this on, I would appreciate a name and contact of someone who can help.
Cheers
Craig
“Hi Craig,
I have uploaded your images that you could not upload to Workspace for you. You will be able to order from there now. There were no issues with the files when it came to uploading. I would suggest that your comment about a slow internet is the root of the problem. I would suggest discussing this with your internet supplier to see whether it is possible to increase your upload speed. Most internet packages look more at download speeds not upload.
For future orders we would certainly prefer them to arrive via Workspace or Lab direct as our workflow is based around those programs. Dropbox would be a last option and we would need clear instructions. We can not offer any of our promotional offer to work coming in via Dropbox.
Cheers
PETER ATTWOOD | QUEENSBERRY
Customer Support”
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 1:47 PM
Subject: RE: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.
Hi Craig
Thanks for your email, and let me start by saying you are not alone!
I’ve had a number of complaints from people living in the Upper Hutt ‘hinterland’ about their broadband. In Kaitoke, Maymorn, Mangaroa, Whiteman’s Valley, and Blue Mountains they have similar concerns. They have also had similar problems dealing with service providers.
I have already met with a number of the service providers and written to the Minister for Communications about these issues. I have been less than impressed with responses that I have received.
While I do acknowledge geography and isolation can pose challenges for telecommunications infrastructure providers, I do not believe that this should be continuing to hinder broadband services for the growing number of people living in the areas surrounding Upper Hutt.
The rollout of Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been beset with delays, cost overruns, and low take-up by consumers and businesses. Rural communities are already sending petitions to Parliament.
I can assure you that my Labour Party colleagues and I take these issues very seriously and will continue to pressure the government to ensure that they are addressed.
I am in the process of gathering more information about the magnitude of the problem and hope to use this information to advocate for change.
I’m sorry to tell you that at present there are large parts of the Upper Hutt community that have very poor broadband and there are no plans to adequately address that issue. That’s simply not good enough.
I thank you for you continued patience in this matter. I will continue to advocate for better broadband for all Hutt Valley residents and hope to keep you appraised of progress.
Regards
Chris Hipkins
eMail response to local MP
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:37 PM
Hi Chris
Thankyou for your response…
I need to be very clear that we dont have “broadband” – if you review the Chorus map I attached we are “below” 1MB at times – nobody in the entire region of Wellington has the “white patch” except us.
Do you want our petition material? It has been useless against any of the telco’s and they keep blaming each other, the govt etc – so nobody is taking responsibility.
Im done trying to get help from the ISP’s, most famous frikken response is : “Please reset your modem to factory default settings”
BTW My partner was in Thailand on an island with dirt roads and generator electricity – her internet connection was 5MB
Cheers
Craig
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:47 PM
Hi Craig
Yes, the petition material would be useful. It will certainly help to build the case.
Chris
May 2014 – Sam and William collect 93 signatures from Plateau Rd residents
eMail to local MP
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Te Marua internet issue
Dear Mr Chris Hipkins
I have been living in Te Marua for over a year now and I have been experiencing the worst internet that I have ever used. I have talked to internet providers as to if they can improve situation. This proved unsuccessful. I then continued with Chorus from them they have told me that if I would want an upgrade it would require a petition. I have petition all of Te Marua who agreed that the internet is unusable and slow. I will need to give the forms to Chorus but I would appreciate your help and support in making this upgrade happen when re-approaching Chorus
Regards Samuel Porta
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Friday, May 9, 2014
Subject: Te Marua internet issue
To: Sam Porta
Thanks for your email Samuel
I’ve been getting a lot of complaints from Upper Hutt residents who live outside the centre of the city. I’m about to do a survey to get a better handle on the scale of the problem and to give me a bit more ammo lobbying for better provision.
I’ve met with Chorus several times. To some extent their hands are tied by government funding decisions, but they could certainly do a lot more all the same.
I’ll keep you posted.
Chris
29 Sep 2013 – Honest response from Vodafone, after requesting help
Really sorry it looks like your exchange where all the telephone lines are connected to will be the same for any provider and we would only be telling you the same information.
If you would like we can definitely connect you and you can try the services with us but basically it would be around the same speeds if this is the speed your line can go.
22 August 2013 – Message from Chorus, after requesting help
Sent: Thursday, 22 August 2013 12:28 p.m.
Subject: RE: 191 Plateau Rd Te Marua- Case 152079
Hi Craig,
Thank you for contacting Chorus.
Unfortunately you are outside the Chorus coverage area for planned network upgrade.
The Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been developed by the Government to help enable urban like broadband services to be accessible to rural residents. Under the Rural Broadband Initiative, Chorus is responsible for connecting rural schools to ultra-fast broadband, while Vodafone (the Government’s other partner in the programme) has the primary responsibility for enabling broadband services to 80% of rural households by deploying wireless broadband coverage.
While Chorus is continually extending the reach of fixed line broadband, the significant additional investment costs involved in deploying new broadband infrastructure to some harder-to-reach areas makes the economics very challenging.
I recommend that you check with Vodafone on whether their community broadband coverage plans include your area. They have published some indicative coverage maps on their website and plan to make this service available via a range of retail service providers: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/wireless/
For more information around RBI visit us online at http://www.chorus.co.nz/rural-broadband-initiative.
Alternative services
Please talk to a telecommunications service provider or network provider in your area to discuss alternative options such as mobile, wireless or satellite. More information on broadband technology is available at our website at http://www.chorus.co.nz/broadband.
Kind Regards,
“name”
Chorus Team
19 Feb 2016 – Petition to Chris Hipkins
16 February 2016 – My follow up with MP
eMail to local MP
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.
Hi Chris
Would like to meet up with you to discuss a path to correct the crap internet service we have on Plateau Road, Te Marua, due to our street being the only street in NZ not upgraded to broadband due to govt decisions to switch rollout plans with Chorus (Information spin from Chorus).
We are on 1MB download and 300KB upload – on a happy day.
The farm across the stream (my neighbor) has a 5MB connection.
The exchange is about 4 km from our street and I’m told that even if this was moved to the bottom of our street we would see a marvelous improvement without having to dig up or lay wire.
My boys went on a petition signing adventure and we have a nice handful.
I’m done talking to ISP’s, “Spark” and Chorus and I would love to have you light a firecracker under some bums.
We run a home business (websites and photography) so it would be wonderful to actually be able to work online, not have to make a cup of tea while waiting, and not have to apologise to clients for poor internet services. See my latest issue with a supplier below – clearly I cannot resolve this with ISP’s (ours is Orcon and they lease the line from Spark) as they don’t give a fck or care.
If you are not able to take this on, I would appreciate a name and contact of someone who can help.
Cheers
Craig
“Hi Craig,
I have uploaded your images that you could not upload to Workspace for you. You will be able to order from there now. There were no issues with the files when it came to uploading. I would suggest that your comment about a slow internet is the root of the problem. I would suggest discussing this with your internet supplier to see whether it is possible to increase your upload speed. Most internet packages look more at download speeds not upload.
For future orders we would certainly prefer them to arrive via Workspace or Lab direct as our workflow is based around those programs. Dropbox would be a last option and we would need clear instructions. We can not offer any of our promotional offer to work coming in via Dropbox.
Cheers
PETER ATTWOOD | QUEENSBERRY
Customer Support”
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 1:47 PM
Subject: RE: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.
Hi Craig
Thanks for your email, and let me start by saying you are not alone!
I’ve had a number of complaints from people living in the Upper Hutt ‘hinterland’ about their broadband. In Kaitoke, Maymorn, Mangaroa, Whiteman’s Valley, and Blue Mountains they have similar concerns. They have also had similar problems dealing with service providers.
I have already met with a number of the service providers and written to the Minister for Communications about these issues. I have been less than impressed with responses that I have received.
While I do acknowledge geography and isolation can pose challenges for telecommunications infrastructure providers, I do not believe that this should be continuing to hinder broadband services for the growing number of people living in the areas surrounding Upper Hutt.
The rollout of Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been beset with delays, cost overruns, and low take-up by consumers and businesses. Rural communities are already sending petitions to Parliament.
I can assure you that my Labour Party colleagues and I take these issues very seriously and will continue to pressure the government to ensure that they are addressed.
I am in the process of gathering more information about the magnitude of the problem and hope to use this information to advocate for change.
I’m sorry to tell you that at present there are large parts of the Upper Hutt community that have very poor broadband and there are no plans to adequately address that issue. That’s simply not good enough.
I thank you for you continued patience in this matter. I will continue to advocate for better broadband for all Hutt Valley residents and hope to keep you appraised of progress.
Regards
Chris Hipkins
eMail response to local MP
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:37 PM
Hi Chris
Thankyou for your response…
I need to be very clear that we dont have “broadband” – if you review the Chorus map I attached we are “below” 1MB at times – nobody in the entire region of Wellington has the “white patch” except us.
Do you want our petition material? It has been useless against any of the telco’s and they keep blaming each other, the govt etc – so nobody is taking responsibility.
Im done trying to get help from the ISP’s, most famous frikken response is : “Please reset your modem to factory default settings”
BTW My partner was in Thailand on an island with dirt roads and generator electricity – her internet connection was 5MB
Cheers
Craig
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:47 PM
Hi Craig
Yes, the petition material would be useful. It will certainly help to build the case.
Chris
May 2014 – Sam and William collect 93 signatures from Plateau Rd residents
eMail to local MP
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Te Marua internet issue
Dear Mr Chris Hipkins
I have been living in Te Marua for over a year now and I have been experiencing the worst internet that I have ever used. I have talked to internet providers as to if they can improve situation. This proved unsuccessful. I then continued with Chorus from them they have told me that if I would want an upgrade it would require a petition. I have petition all of Te Marua who agreed that the internet is unusable and slow. I will need to give the forms to Chorus but I would appreciate your help and support in making this upgrade happen when re-approaching Chorus
Regards Samuel Porta
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Friday, May 9, 2014
Subject: Te Marua internet issue
To: Sam Porta
Thanks for your email Samuel
I’ve been getting a lot of complaints from Upper Hutt residents who live outside the centre of the city. I’m about to do a survey to get a better handle on the scale of the problem and to give me a bit more ammo lobbying for better provision.
I’ve met with Chorus several times. To some extent their hands are tied by government funding decisions, but they could certainly do a lot more all the same.
I’ll keep you posted.
Chris
29 Sep 2013 – Honest response from Vodafone, after requesting help
Really sorry it looks like your exchange where all the telephone lines are connected to will be the same for any provider and we would only be telling you the same information.
If you would like we can definitely connect you and you can try the services with us but basically it would be around the same speeds if this is the speed your line can go.
22 August 2013 – Message from Chorus, after requesting help
Sent: Thursday, 22 August 2013 12:28 p.m.
Subject: RE: 191 Plateau Rd Te Marua- Case 152079
Hi Craig,
Thank you for contacting Chorus.
Unfortunately you are outside the Chorus coverage area for planned network upgrade.
The Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been developed by the Government to help enable urban like broadband services to be accessible to rural residents. Under the Rural Broadband Initiative, Chorus is responsible for connecting rural schools to ultra-fast broadband, while Vodafone (the Government’s other partner in the programme) has the primary responsibility for enabling broadband services to 80% of rural households by deploying wireless broadband coverage.
While Chorus is continually extending the reach of fixed line broadband, the significant additional investment costs involved in deploying new broadband infrastructure to some harder-to-reach areas makes the economics very challenging.
I recommend that you check with Vodafone on whether their community broadband coverage plans include your area. They have published some indicative coverage maps on their website and plan to make this service available via a range of retail service providers: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/wireless/
For more information around RBI visit us online at http://www.chorus.co.nz/rural-broadband-initiative.
Alternative services
Please talk to a telecommunications service provider or network provider in your area to discuss alternative options such as mobile, wireless or satellite. More information on broadband technology is available at our website at http://www.chorus.co.nz/broadband.
Kind Regards,
“name”
Chorus Team
16 February 2016 – My follow up with MP
eMail to local MP
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.
Hi Chris
Would like to meet up with you to discuss a path to correct the crap internet service we have on Plateau Road, Te Marua, due to our street being the only street in NZ not upgraded to broadband due to govt decisions to switch rollout plans with Chorus (Information spin from Chorus).
We are on 1MB download and 300KB upload – on a happy day.
The farm across the stream (my neighbor) has a 5MB connection.
The exchange is about 4 km from our street and I’m told that even if this was moved to the bottom of our street we would see a marvelous improvement without having to dig up or lay wire.
My boys went on a petition signing adventure and we have a nice handful.
I’m done talking to ISP’s, “Spark” and Chorus and I would love to have you light a firecracker under some bums.
We run a home business (websites and photography) so it would be wonderful to actually be able to work online, not have to make a cup of tea while waiting, and not have to apologise to clients for poor internet services. See my latest issue with a supplier below – clearly I cannot resolve this with ISP’s (ours is Orcon and they lease the line from Spark) as they don’t give a fck or care.
If you are not able to take this on, I would appreciate a name and contact of someone who can help.
Cheers
Craig
“Hi Craig,
I have uploaded your images that you could not upload to Workspace for you. You will be able to order from there now. There were no issues with the files when it came to uploading. I would suggest that your comment about a slow internet is the root of the problem. I would suggest discussing this with your internet supplier to see whether it is possible to increase your upload speed. Most internet packages look more at download speeds not upload.
For future orders we would certainly prefer them to arrive via Workspace or Lab direct as our workflow is based around those programs. Dropbox would be a last option and we would need clear instructions. We can not offer any of our promotional offer to work coming in via Dropbox.
Cheers
PETER ATTWOOD | QUEENSBERRY
Customer Support”
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 1:47 PM
Subject: RE: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.
Hi Craig
Thanks for your email, and let me start by saying you are not alone!
I’ve had a number of complaints from people living in the Upper Hutt ‘hinterland’ about their broadband. In Kaitoke, Maymorn, Mangaroa, Whiteman’s Valley, and Blue Mountains they have similar concerns. They have also had similar problems dealing with service providers.
I have already met with a number of the service providers and written to the Minister for Communications about these issues. I have been less than impressed with responses that I have received.
While I do acknowledge geography and isolation can pose challenges for telecommunications infrastructure providers, I do not believe that this should be continuing to hinder broadband services for the growing number of people living in the areas surrounding Upper Hutt.
The rollout of Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been beset with delays, cost overruns, and low take-up by consumers and businesses. Rural communities are already sending petitions to Parliament.
I can assure you that my Labour Party colleagues and I take these issues very seriously and will continue to pressure the government to ensure that they are addressed.
I am in the process of gathering more information about the magnitude of the problem and hope to use this information to advocate for change.
I’m sorry to tell you that at present there are large parts of the Upper Hutt community that have very poor broadband and there are no plans to adequately address that issue. That’s simply not good enough.
I thank you for you continued patience in this matter. I will continue to advocate for better broadband for all Hutt Valley residents and hope to keep you appraised of progress.
Regards
Chris Hipkins
eMail response to local MP
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:37 PM
Hi Chris
Thankyou for your response…
I need to be very clear that we dont have “broadband” – if you review the Chorus map I attached we are “below” 1MB at times – nobody in the entire region of Wellington has the “white patch” except us.
Do you want our petition material? It has been useless against any of the telco’s and they keep blaming each other, the govt etc – so nobody is taking responsibility.
Im done trying to get help from the ISP’s, most famous frikken response is : “Please reset your modem to factory default settings”
BTW My partner was in Thailand on an island with dirt roads and generator electricity – her internet connection was 5MB
Cheers
Craig
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:47 PM
Hi Craig
Yes, the petition material would be useful. It will certainly help to build the case.
Chris
May 2014 – Sam and William collect 93 signatures from Plateau Rd residents
eMail to local MP
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Te Marua internet issue
Dear Mr Chris Hipkins
I have been living in Te Marua for over a year now and I have been experiencing the worst internet that I have ever used. I have talked to internet providers as to if they can improve situation. This proved unsuccessful. I then continued with Chorus from them they have told me that if I would want an upgrade it would require a petition. I have petition all of Te Marua who agreed that the internet is unusable and slow. I will need to give the forms to Chorus but I would appreciate your help and support in making this upgrade happen when re-approaching Chorus
Regards Samuel Porta
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Friday, May 9, 2014
Subject: Te Marua internet issue
To: Sam Porta
Thanks for your email Samuel
I’ve been getting a lot of complaints from Upper Hutt residents who live outside the centre of the city. I’m about to do a survey to get a better handle on the scale of the problem and to give me a bit more ammo lobbying for better provision.
I’ve met with Chorus several times. To some extent their hands are tied by government funding decisions, but they could certainly do a lot more all the same.
I’ll keep you posted.
Chris
29 Sep 2013 – Honest response from Vodafone, after requesting help
Really sorry it looks like your exchange where all the telephone lines are connected to will be the same for any provider and we would only be telling you the same information.
If you would like we can definitely connect you and you can try the services with us but basically it would be around the same speeds if this is the speed your line can go.
22 August 2013 – Message from Chorus, after requesting help
Sent: Thursday, 22 August 2013 12:28 p.m.
Subject: RE: 191 Plateau Rd Te Marua- Case 152079
Hi Craig,
Thank you for contacting Chorus.
Unfortunately you are outside the Chorus coverage area for planned network upgrade.
The Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been developed by the Government to help enable urban like broadband services to be accessible to rural residents. Under the Rural Broadband Initiative, Chorus is responsible for connecting rural schools to ultra-fast broadband, while Vodafone (the Government’s other partner in the programme) has the primary responsibility for enabling broadband services to 80% of rural households by deploying wireless broadband coverage.
While Chorus is continually extending the reach of fixed line broadband, the significant additional investment costs involved in deploying new broadband infrastructure to some harder-to-reach areas makes the economics very challenging.
I recommend that you check with Vodafone on whether their community broadband coverage plans include your area. They have published some indicative coverage maps on their website and plan to make this service available via a range of retail service providers: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/wireless/
For more information around RBI visit us online at http://www.chorus.co.nz/rural-broadband-initiative.
Alternative services
Please talk to a telecommunications service provider or network provider in your area to discuss alternative options such as mobile, wireless or satellite. More information on broadband technology is available at our website at http://www.chorus.co.nz/broadband.
Kind Regards,
“name”
Chorus Team
eMail to local MP
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.Hi Chris
Would like to meet up with you to discuss a path to correct the crap internet service we have on Plateau Road, Te Marua, due to our street being the only street in NZ not upgraded to broadband due to govt decisions to switch rollout plans with Chorus (Information spin from Chorus).
We are on 1MB download and 300KB upload – on a happy day.
The farm across the stream (my neighbor) has a 5MB connection.
The exchange is about 4 km from our street and I’m told that even if this was moved to the bottom of our street we would see a marvelous improvement without having to dig up or lay wire.
My boys went on a petition signing adventure and we have a nice handful.
I’m done talking to ISP’s, “Spark” and Chorus and I would love to have you light a firecracker under some bums.We run a home business (websites and photography) so it would be wonderful to actually be able to work online, not have to make a cup of tea while waiting, and not have to apologise to clients for poor internet services. See my latest issue with a supplier below – clearly I cannot resolve this with ISP’s (ours is Orcon and they lease the line from Spark) as they don’t give a fck or care.
If you are not able to take this on, I would appreciate a name and contact of someone who can help.
Cheers
Craig“Hi Craig,
I have uploaded your images that you could not upload to Workspace for you. You will be able to order from there now. There were no issues with the files when it came to uploading. I would suggest that your comment about a slow internet is the root of the problem. I would suggest discussing this with your internet supplier to see whether it is possible to increase your upload speed. Most internet packages look more at download speeds not upload.
For future orders we would certainly prefer them to arrive via Workspace or Lab direct as our workflow is based around those programs. Dropbox would be a last option and we would need clear instructions. We can not offer any of our promotional offer to work coming in via Dropbox.
Cheers
PETER ATTWOOD | QUEENSBERRY
Customer Support”
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 1:47 PM
Subject: RE: Meeting to discuss Internet services on Plateau Road, Te Marua and a Petition that has been signed for poor service.Hi Craig
Thanks for your email, and let me start by saying you are not alone!
I’ve had a number of complaints from people living in the Upper Hutt ‘hinterland’ about their broadband. In Kaitoke, Maymorn, Mangaroa, Whiteman’s Valley, and Blue Mountains they have similar concerns. They have also had similar problems dealing with service providers.
I have already met with a number of the service providers and written to the Minister for Communications about these issues. I have been less than impressed with responses that I have received.
While I do acknowledge geography and isolation can pose challenges for telecommunications infrastructure providers, I do not believe that this should be continuing to hinder broadband services for the growing number of people living in the areas surrounding Upper Hutt.
The rollout of Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been beset with delays, cost overruns, and low take-up by consumers and businesses. Rural communities are already sending petitions to Parliament.
I can assure you that my Labour Party colleagues and I take these issues very seriously and will continue to pressure the government to ensure that they are addressed.
I am in the process of gathering more information about the magnitude of the problem and hope to use this information to advocate for change.
I’m sorry to tell you that at present there are large parts of the Upper Hutt community that have very poor broadband and there are no plans to adequately address that issue. That’s simply not good enough.
I thank you for you continued patience in this matter. I will continue to advocate for better broadband for all Hutt Valley residents and hope to keep you appraised of progress.
Regards
Chris Hipkins
eMail response to local MP
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:37 PM
Hi ChrisThankyou for your response…
I need to be very clear that we dont have “broadband” – if you review the Chorus map I attached we are “below” 1MB at times – nobody in the entire region of Wellington has the “white patch” except us.
Do you want our petition material? It has been useless against any of the telco’s and they keep blaming each other, the govt etc – so nobody is taking responsibility.
Im done trying to get help from the ISP’s, most famous frikken response is : “Please reset your modem to factory default settings”
BTW My partner was in Thailand on an island with dirt roads and generator electricity – her internet connection was 5MB
Cheers
Craig
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:47 PMHi Craig
Yes, the petition material would be useful. It will certainly help to build the case.
Chris
May 2014 – Sam and William collect 93 signatures from Plateau Rd residents
eMail to local MP
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2014
To: Chris Hipkins
Subject: Te Marua internet issueDear Mr Chris Hipkins
I have been living in Te Marua for over a year now and I have been experiencing the worst internet that I have ever used. I have talked to internet providers as to if they can improve situation. This proved unsuccessful. I then continued with Chorus from them they have told me that if I would want an upgrade it would require a petition. I have petition all of Te Marua who agreed that the internet is unusable and slow. I will need to give the forms to Chorus but I would appreciate your help and support in making this upgrade happen when re-approaching Chorus
Regards Samuel Porta
eMail response from local MP
From: Chris Hipkins
Date: Friday, May 9, 2014
Subject: Te Marua internet issue
To: Sam PortaThanks for your email Samuel
I’ve been getting a lot of complaints from Upper Hutt residents who live outside the centre of the city. I’m about to do a survey to get a better handle on the scale of the problem and to give me a bit more ammo lobbying for better provision.
I’ve met with Chorus several times. To some extent their hands are tied by government funding decisions, but they could certainly do a lot more all the same.
I’ll keep you posted.
Chris
29 Sep 2013 – Honest response from Vodafone, after requesting help
Really sorry it looks like your exchange where all the telephone lines are connected to will be the same for any provider and we would only be telling you the same information.
If you would like we can definitely connect you and you can try the services with us but basically it would be around the same speeds if this is the speed your line can go.
22 August 2013 – Message from Chorus, after requesting help
Sent: Thursday, 22 August 2013 12:28 p.m.
Subject: RE: 191 Plateau Rd Te Marua- Case 152079Hi Craig,
Thank you for contacting Chorus.
Unfortunately you are outside the Chorus coverage area for planned network upgrade.
The Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) has been developed by the Government to help enable urban like broadband services to be accessible to rural residents. Under the Rural Broadband Initiative, Chorus is responsible for connecting rural schools to ultra-fast broadband, while Vodafone (the Government’s other partner in the programme) has the primary responsibility for enabling broadband services to 80% of rural households by deploying wireless broadband coverage.
While Chorus is continually extending the reach of fixed line broadband, the significant additional investment costs involved in deploying new broadband infrastructure to some harder-to-reach areas makes the economics very challenging.
I recommend that you check with Vodafone on whether their community broadband coverage plans include your area. They have published some indicative coverage maps on their website and plan to make this service available via a range of retail service providers: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/wireless/
For more information around RBI visit us online at http://www.chorus.co.nz/rural-broadband-initiative.
Alternative services
Please talk to a telecommunications service provider or network provider in your area to discuss alternative options such as mobile, wireless or satellite. More information on broadband technology is available at our website at http://www.chorus.co.nz/broadband.
Kind Regards,
“name”
Chorus Team