Orcon unbundles first South Island exchanges

Palmerston North and Rotorua to be unbundled later this month.

Orcon has unbundled its first South Island exchanges, marking a significant milestone for the company, and has also announced it will be unbundling two new North Island cities.

From today, households and businesses in Christchurch and Dunedin can sign up for Orcon’s local loop unbundled (LLU) telephone and ADSL2+ broadband network service – Orcon+. Exchanges in Palmerston North and Rotorua are set to go live later this month.

The new exchanges are Christchurch Central, Dunedin Central, Palmerston North Central and Rotorua Central, and will cover nearly 40,000 homes and businesses.

The move means consumers and businesses in eight New Zealand cities will have access to Orcon’s LLU service by the end of February.

Orcon has already had several highly successful launches of the service, including Auckland in 2008 and Wellington in 2009; and in January this year announced it had also unbundled exchanges in Hamilton and Tauranga.

Orcon head of sales and marketing Taryn Hamilton says today’s launch highlights the company’s dedication to making next generation broadband more accessible to New Zealanders.

“We have had a lot of enquiries from New Zealanders about when various exchanges will be unbundled. Following on from last month’s launches in Hamilton and Tauranga, we’re pleased to be able to extend our award-winning service to another four regions.”

Orcon was the first provider to introduce new phone and internet plans following the Government’s decision in late 2006 to ‘unbundle’ the local loop, the copper wires that link homes to their neighbourhood exchanges.

The next-generation Orcon+ network features a range of plans that give both residential and business customers access to ‘world-class’ broadband as well as features such as unlimited calling throughout New Zealand.

The ultimate residential package includes an unlimited number of overseas calls to one of 16 countries of the subscriber’s choice.