Building Industry Guide to Fibre Broadband Information for residential developers, architects, builders and electricians about ultra-fast broadband. Delivering new possibilities
Enable s fibre broadband will deliver technology services into homes for the next 50 years and beyond. Thousands of people in our region can enjoy fibre broadband already and are demanding it in their homes. Developers, architects and builders need to be considering what this means for their projects now! What you need to know about fibre broadband: Why home owners are demanding fibre broadband services already. (Page 3) Developers, architects, and builders and electricians need to install fibre now. (Page 4) Wiring recommendations for a new or renovated home (Page 6) About Enable Enable is a partnership between Government agency, Crown Fibre Holdings Limited and Christchurch City owned Enable Services Limited. It is delivering ultra-fast broadband (UFB) to over 180,000 homes and commercial premises in Christchurch, and Waimakariri and Selwyn Districts. As a local company, focused only on our region, Enable is inherently linked to the people of Christchurch and Canterbury. We are committed to making a positive contribution to our region and ensuring that this massive infrastructure project generates significant returns to our local community. The network build programme has already created hundreds of new jobs in our region. But the long-term benefits of having fibre broadband will have the biggest impact on our community through innovations that create new business opportunities and services to support local people. Delivering new possibilities
What fibre broadband offers Enable s fibre broadband is already changing the way people use the internet and technology at home today. This is why more and more people want it in their homes now! But this is only the beginning with many new possibilities just around the corner. Homeline A fibre broadband service means you can switch your telephone from the old copper network to fibre and enjoy much smarter calling and messaging. What s more, it may save you money through cheaper long-distance calling or by combining your phone and broadband in one package. Entertainment Fibre broadband can change the way you are entertained at home. HD YouTube, TV on Demand, isky and Quickflix are here today and work better over fibre. Google TV is coming and the television networks are getting ready to bring their services to you on fibre. In Business A fibre connection into your office or home business creates endless possibilities from accessing exciting new solutions that make your business more productive and reduce cost, to providing new ways to connect with customers locally, nationally and globally. Fast Internet A fibre connection creates virtually limitless broadband capacity. This means people can do much more and access many more services online over Enable s network. Education Fibre broadband will transform how children learn by delivering new digital tools into the classroom and making schools (and universities) hubs of interactive learning that can be accessed through fibre at home. Home owners can choose from a range of retail services providers that sell broadband and telephone services over Enable s fibre broadband network. A full list of service providers offering fibre broadband is available from our website. What s more it s easy to connect to Enable s network, and a fibre broadband and telephone service costs about the same each month as a copper service. enable.net.nz
Developers, architects, builders and electricians should consider fibre now Put simply, you should be thinking about fibre broadband because your clients and prospective customers are. The government ultra-fast broadband initiative is a high profile infrastructure project, and more and more people are beginning to understand what it means for them. Also, telecommunication companies and network providers are aggressively marketing the potential of fibre broadband and how it will change the way we use the internet and technology in our lives. Fibre-ready properties are more desirable to buyers Tech-savvy home buyers already consider the availability of broadband services in their purchasing criteria for a raft of reasons running home businesses, working from home, education or entertainment services. With many new internet services working better or only working over fibre, this trend is growing rapidly. Homes in your subdivision can be some of the first in Christchurch to have Enable s fibre broadband available, so you can attract tech-savvy home buyers. Developers / Enable is committed to delivering fibre broadband services to all new Christchurch subdivisions The Christchurch earthquakes have resulted in an unprecedented amount of new subdivisions planned in our community with over 20,000 new sections expected in the next few years. Enable is committed to ensuring all new Christchurch subdivisions, and ones within our coverage areas in Waimakariri and Selwyn Districts, have access to our services. We are installing our network into new subdivisions in Christchurch already. We want to work closely with developers to prioritise network deployment to subdivisions This is so the benefits of having UFB available to the first home owners in a subdivision can be realised. We are keen to be involved in the planning of the infrastructure development into a subdivision as early as possible and to work with developers to agree terms for prioritising network deployment. Options for deployment may include the developer installing Enable s fibre ducting during the road forming stage or Enable completing all the cable laying work at a reasonable standard charge per lot. Contact Enable at sales@enable.net.nz or on 0800 4 FIBRE (0800 434 273) to meet with us and discuss what option is right for your development. Delivering new possibilities
Architects / Transforming the home environment with fibre broadband In the next few years, Christchurch and the surrounding areas will experience an enormous amount of new home building and major renovations to existing homes. Architects have the opportunity to maximise the potential of fibre broadband by designing homes with technology hubs and cabling that will support smart features. They have the opportunity to think creatively about how fibre broadband can transform the home environment from automated heating and lighting to home entertainment. Builders and electricians / Future-proofing your customers homes Connecting to fibre involves laying ducting from the property boundary to where the telecommunications and WiFi equipment will be located in the house. Installing this ducting and making space for network equipment during building or renovations removes future disruption for the owner. Also, choosing the right type of telecommunications wiring in a new home or replacing wiring improves the performance of technology services, and provides additional home value. Builders need to make sure the electricians working on their projects are installing suitable wiring. Enable wants to work with builders to lay fibre ducting Installing fibre on a customer s property involves either drilling or trenching to lay the external ducting and this can cause some disruption after gardens are landscaped or driveways are laid. Enable wants to work with builders and their subcontractors (particularly electricians) to avoid customer disruption and put ducting in when trenches are open for other services to be installed. Builders and electricians should call Enable on 0800 4 FIBRE (0800 434 273) to arrange for fibre ducting to be delivered and installed at their building site. enable.net.nz
Fibre broadband specifications for a home Wiring recommendations for a new or renovated home Enable s network is one important factor in delivering high-quality broadband services into the home. Another important factor is the quality of a home s wiring. Most consumer devices use either WiFi or wired (copper) Ethernet, and it s important that there is sufficient cabling in the house to support high-bandwidth services to wired devices. The recommended standard for a new home or home rewiring is to use Cat5e copper cabling a high quality copper cable designed to deliver high-bandwidth services. It will future proof a home and make it ready to make the most of fibre broadband. A structured or star wiring design should be used in all rewiring or wiring for a new home as opposed to the traditional daisy chain approach to wiring a house. This means all house wiring should travel out from a central point with dedicated cabling points going into most rooms. Example of structured wiring design with the distribution box situated in the garage Delivering new possibilities
Installing an internal fibre conduit during build or renovations Include a home distribution box in home design Your electrician should be able to install conduit during the build/renovation to prepare a home for connecting to fibre broadband. If conduit is installed to Enable s specifications in advance, a fibre broadband installation will have less visual impact and involve less disruption. In a new home build (particularly in new subdivisions) the conduit should begin at an external wall directly above the power/telecommunications services trench. In a renovation the conduit should begin at an external wall close to the front of the property. In both cases, the building entry point should be between 300-1500mm above ground. It should terminate at a suitable internal location for the network equipment to be installed for example: the garage or utility room or cupboard. It should also have access to a power point and any existing internal telephone or data cabling. Care must be taken to ensure conduit bends are used with a minimum 70mm radius so that the fibre cable can be installed. Example of an internal fibre conduit installation using a vertical conduit. Enable recommends including room for a home distribution box in new builds or renovations to house the network equipment. This box must be situated inside the home and should be where the fibre conduit and structured wiring terminates. It should be accessible and located at about eye-level, and close to a mains power source. Electricians and electrical equipment suppliers can provide a home distribution box. It should be at least 700mm (high) by 350mm (wide) large enough to contain: An Optical Network Terminal (ONT): this is the point where a fibre connection is integrated with the internal wiring network, and is provided by Enable when we connect a customer to the network. It replaces the existing modem to deliver fibre services into the home, and is roughly the same size as an existing modem. A back-up power device: the equipment that delivers your voice and data services over fibre needs power to function. The ONT can operate off a battery back-up in the event of a power cut. These are available from electrical equipment suppliers. Any other network equipment that retail service providers may supply to deliver services to a home, such as a residential gateway, WiFi access point or hard drive. 20mm PVC Conduit Specifications: A dedicated PVC conduit for fibre broadband Minimum 20mm diameter Minimum 70mm bend radius at any point along the conduit Conduit must be white or red. A draw wire included. For further information please email sales@enable.net.nz or phone 0800 4 FIBRE (0800 434 273) enable.net.nz
Find out more about Enable s fibre broadband. Visit enable.net.nz Call 0800 4 FIBRE (0800 434 273)