Contracting Capabilities

Northpower provides contracting services across the North Island including engineering, infrastructure management and maintenance and construction.

Adding value to our community through fibre expansion

Location: Whangārei
Start date: 2023
Completion date: 2024

Northpower / Project case studies / Adding value to our community through fibre expansion

Reducing the rural divide

Northpower Fibre is making significant strides in expanding ultra-fast broadband (UFB) access across Northland, with a focus on reducing the rural broadband divide. Through continued innovation and investment, our Fibre team is improving connectivity across the region and enriching the lives of over 25,000 customers (and counting!)

Over the 2023-2024 year, we welcomed more than 1,000 new customers to our fibre network, extending our footprint to 400 new homes in Tamaterau (Whangārei Heads), Vinegar Hill, and Whau Valley across Whangārei District. By extending the reach of our network, we aim to reduce the rural broadband divide and explore opportunities to enable fibre for more communities as they aris

To achieve the 1,000+ installations in 2023, our Fibre team adopted innovative installation techniques that saw benefits to both customers and our teams. Drone technology was used for installing fibre in the challenging terrain of Tamaterau, which replaced labour-intensive processes and traversing private properties with aerial mapping and stringing of aerial fibre between poles. The use of drones not only streamlined installation processes but it also helped enhance efficiency and minimise disruption for residents in the area.

Behind the scenes, our Fibre team is implementing a technology refresh for its access network, converting to E7 to E9 PON technology. This conversion will increase capacity and throughput, as well as reduce power consumption, ensuring the network remains innovative and ready for growth. Further investments in Core Switch technology will enhance redundancy and resiliency, while deploying XGS-PON (10G Fibre network) will improve broadband access and expand high-speed internet services’ reach.

There is also a strong focus from our Fibre team on increasing automation of the network. This will enable real-time data-driven decisions, leading to enhanced service assurance for our customers, as well as network monitoring and robust asset management for the company.