Communications Day Article, 2nd February 2016:
Brisbane-headquartered multi-access technology infrastructure specialist Universal Communications Group has scored a new deal with Chorus to run fibre installations in apartments and offices in the lower South Island of New Zealand. The deal builds on an earlier 10-year tender with Chorus to connect UFB services in multi-dwelling units in the country, with UFBs having become something of a focus for UCG in both Australia and New Zealand in the last few years.
UCG s work will encompass backbone fibre installations in buildings, the procurement of necessary building consents, and fibre connections into individual building units. The firm will start operations in Ashburton, Dunedin, Invercargill, Gore, Oamaru, Queenstown, Timaru and Wanaka from 1 March.
Fibre demand is growing significantly in New Zealand, and Chorus is looking for more ways to ensure we can connect as many customers as possible, as soon as possible, said Chorus infrastructure GM Ed Beattie. Giving UCG overall responsibility for fibre build and provisioning will be a step change to the current experience for MDU tenants, enabling one end-to-end experience tailored for their requirements consolidated to one contact point . This will help improve NGA performance in the South Island overall, by bringing in new technicians into the area. Also, UCG are MDU specialists and they have already made a positive difference in our programme delivery in our first year working together.
Petroc Wilton, Communications Day.
In a new agreement with New Zealand network operator, Chorus, MDU infrastructure experts Universal Communications Group (UCG) will carry out Chorus fibre installations in apartment and office buildings in the lower South Island. This will include the backbone fibre infrastructure within the building, gaining all the required building consents, and installing subsequent fibre connections into individual building units.
MDUs or Multi-Dwelling Units are generally those premises made up of multiple tenants or occupants on the one site. UCG will commence operations in Ashburton, Dunedin, Invercargill, Gore, Oamaru, Queenstown, Timaru and Wanaka from 1 March 2016.
“Fibre demand is growing significantly in New Zealand, and Chorus is looking for more ways to ensure we can connect as many customers as possible, as soon as possible said Ed Beattie, General Manager Infrastructure at Chorus. “Giving UCG overall responsibility for fibre build and provisioning will be a step change to the current experience for MDU tenants, enabling one end-to-end experience tailored for their requirements consolidated to one contact point”.
“This will help improve NGA performance in the South Island overall, by bringing in new technicians into the area. Also, UCG are MDU specialists and they have already made a positive difference in our programme delivery in our first year working together. It will be good for more customers to experience the benefits of their expertise.”
UCG CEO Ralf Luna commented, “UCG is very excited with this development, we believe it is due to our track record in delivering MDU services for Chorus’ customers in Auckland and Wellington. We look forward to cementing further our relationship with Chorus and improving the overall service provision experience for their fibre customers.”
