Don’t worry about copper

TUANZ said:

The Technology Users Association (TUANZ) is raising concerns about the potential risks of deregulating the long-standing copper network outside urban areas as proposed by the Commerce Commission in its announcement this morning.  

While we acknowledge the need to transition users away from legacy and outdated networks, we remain concerned about the possible impact on rural communities – especially as they already face the shutdown of the 3G mobile network this year. Deregulation could lead to affordability issues, potentially leaving vulnerable communities without reliable and affordable internet or phone services.

“The Commission believes most rural users have up to three alternative providers, but we would like to analyse the data behind this claim to identify any gaps in coverage and capability,” says Craig Young, CEO of TUANZ. 

I’m with the Commerce Commission on this. The availability of Starlink, especially, has made copper a very poor choice for rural users. When I lived on a rural lifestyle block we could only get ADSL and then when Starlink came around, we could get speeds 20 times faster than ADSL.

Copper is a technology of the 1990s and 2000s – not the 2010s let alone the 2020s.