If you require further searching capabilities for announcements please email: data@nzx.com
STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT 11 October 2024 Q1 FY25 Connections Update Chorus today released its connections update for the Q1 period to 30 September. Birkdale becomes Chorus’ first fibre-only exchange Chorus’ retirement of the copper network marked a new milestone in the quarter with Birkdale exchange in Auckland becoming the first fibre-only exchange. When the fibre rollout began in 2011, Birkdale had approximately 7,000 copper connections. In areas where Chorus fibre is available, service withdrawal notices have been issued for approximately 90,000 copper connections so far. About 35,000 copper lines remain in service in Chorus fibre areas. When including copper disconnections outside of Chorus fibre areas, where customers choose alternative network options, about 18,000 copper lines were disconnected nationwide in the quarter. This left about 139,000 copper lines in service nationwide on 30 September. This trend drove an overall reduction in Chorus’ fixed line connections from 1,241,000 to 1,231,000 connections in the quarter. Fibre uptake lifts to 71.6% Chorus’ fibre network footprint, excluding other local fibre company areas, grew by 7,000 addresses in the quarter to 1,514,000 addresses. Fibre uptake within this footprint lifted by 0.2% to 71.6%. Uptake in UFB2 rollout areas increased from 58% to 59%. The Auckland area is at 76.7% uptake, compared to Dunedin on 76.4% and Wellington on 70.6%. Total fibre connections increased by 8,000 in the quarter. Mass market fibre connections grew by 9,000 in Chorus fibre areas, while point-to-point fibre premium connections reduced by about 1,000 lines as a legacy technology platform is withdrawn from service. Strong demand continued for the entry level 50Mbps Home Fibre Starter service with another 10,000 connections added. Business and residential consumers on speeds of 500Mbps and above grew by about 6,000 connections. More than 25% of residential connections are on speeds of 1Gbps and above. Demand for multi-gigabit Hyperfibre connections accelerated in the quarter with more retailers promoting the service. Residential customers now comprise 81% of the more than 4,000 Hyperfibre connections. Average monthly data usage on fibre reduced slightly from 623 gigabytes in June to 609GB. The proportion of fibre users consuming more than 1 terabyte of data was 15%. Authorised by: Katrina Smidt Acting Chief Financial Officer ENDS For further information: Vicki Gan Media and Content Manager Phone +64 22 075 0159 Email: Vicki.Gan@chorus.co.nz Brett Jackson Investor Relations Manager Mobile: +64 (27) 488 7808 Email: Brett.Jackson@chorus.co.nz