Rural Broadband Providers NZ

The Rural Broadband Initiative in New Zealand

The New Zealand Government fully understands the needs and requirements for broadband in the more rural parts of the country and as a result of this, they actioned the Rural Broadband Initiative with the goal of bringing a broadband connection to 86% of rural customers by 2016.

This initiative has been awarded as a contract to Chorus and Vodafone and is backed by a budget of $300 million NZD. The broadband connection that Vodafone and Chorus are targetting for rural consumers is a minimum of 5Mbit/s.

The plan to achieve this involves Vodafone installing 154 new cell towers and upgrading 387 new mobile cell towers across New Zealand. This has added over 250,000 addresses to the Vodafone 3G coverage across New Zealand.

By December 2014 Vodafone had successfully installed 104 new towers and already upgraded 305 of the other towers, this has already given a growth in mobile broadband coverage in rural areas of 231,010 addresses. The Chorus Broadband element of the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) is to provide a super fast fibre broadband connection to the new Vodafone mobile broadband towers as well as linking in with over 1,000 schools, 183 libraries and 50 different health providers. In order to do this, Chorus will be carrying out a number of different upgrades as well as installing 1215 new cabinets to increase the overall coverage on broadband via Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Networks (GPON), Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) and Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) coverage to an additional 100,000 lines.

As of December 2014 Chorus had already successfully upgraded and installed 81,040 lines across New Zealand which have seen an 80% uptake rate.

So obviously as you can see, rural broadband is definitely improving but getting decent broadband in some rural areas of New Zealand can still be tricky... That's where BroadbandCompare.co.nz is here to help! Whilst it may be tricky to track down a broadband provider in some rural areas of New Zealand we have pulled together a comparison of New Zealand's best rural broadband providers, splitting out by location and area as well as detailing any particular challenges that may come with your rural broadband connection.

Check out the BroadbandCompare.co.nz rural broadband providers section for specific Rural Broadband Providers NZ offerings for you to compare and contrast.

EXCLUSIVE
46

RBI 4G 200Gb Get a FREE modem + Get 3 months FRE...

from $0.00 /mo
First 3 months then 95.99/month
36Mbps 10Mbps
200 GB data
EXCLUSIVE
46

RBI 4G 200Gb Get a FREE modem + Get 3 months FRE...

Get a FREE modem and self-installation ($20 freight charge applies) + Get 3 months FREE! Sign up now on 0800 697 327. T&C's apply.
Terms and Conditions apply

Full plan details

Contract options

24 months

Included features

Rental router

Terms and conditions

  • Factors such as the performance of your modem, location of the server you're connected to, the performance of your device and your in-home Wifi setup can impact the speeds experienced.
  • For wireless connections, factors such as the distance you are from a cell tower, the network capability and the overall use of that cell tower by the other consumers can impact the speed experienced.
  • Plan prices exclude data cap overages of $5.00 per GB.
  • A 24 month service term applies. If you require an open term please contact Farmside sales team on 0800 697 327 to discuss open term options.
  • Farmside Broadband Terms and Conditions and Early Termination fees apply
    Farmside Standard Terms and Conditions and Fair Usage Policy applies
  • If power is not available then broadband, and any services which run over it including voice calling (and all calls, including emergency calls to 111), may stop working unless there is battery backup in the home.Farmside recommends always having a charged mobile phone ready to use as a backup.
  • Sufficient 4G coverage and capacity is also required. Traffic management and fair usage apply.
  • Services such as monitored alarms, faxes, medical alerts and Sky may not work over the Broadband and phone (VoIP) service. You will need to check with your supplier.
EXCLUSIVE
30

Urban Wireless 4G 300GB Get a FREE modem + Get 3 months FRE...

from $0.00 /mo
First 3 months then 55.00/month
36Mbps 10Mbps
300 GB data
EXCLUSIVE
30

Urban Wireless 4G 300GB Get a FREE modem + Get 3 months FRE...

Get a FREE modem and self-installation ($20 freight charge applies) + Get 3 months FREE! Sign up now on 0800 697 327. T&C's apply,
Terms and Conditions apply

Full plan details

Contract options

24 months

Included features

Rental router

Terms and conditions

  • Offer is available to new Farmside customers
  • A 24 month service term applies. If you require an open term please contact our sales team on 0800 697 327. 
  • Early Disconnection Fees apply.
  • Installation & other fees may apply. 
  • Average peak time download/upload speeds are 30/17Mbps at busiest times. You may experience a higher or lower speed than these averages.
  • Rural addresses are specifically excluded.
  •  Availability of the Unlimited plan may depend on network capability at your address. For Unlimited data Fair Use Policy applies.
  • Factors such as the distance you are from a cell tower, the network capability and the overall use of that cell tower by the other consumers can impact the speed experienced.
  • Factors such as the performance of your modem, location of the server you're connected to, the performance of your device and your in-home Wi-fi setup can impact the speeds experienced.
  • Sufficient 4G coverage and capacity is also required. Traffic management and Fair Usage apply.
  • Farmside Broadband Terms and Conditions apply.
  • Farmside Standard Terms and Conditions and Fair Usage Policy applies.

 

Login
×
Log in with
Sign up for free NZ Compare account
×
Log in with
3 Great Offers
×
Unlimited Fibre Broadband from $70/m
Plus 6 months Prime Video free
Say whaaaaaaat!! Limited time only. 
T&Cs apply.
Unlimited Fibre Broadband from $70/m
Plus 6 months Prime Video free
Say whaaaaaaat!! Limited time only.
T&Cs apply.
Ears to a great Easter 
with 6 months half price! 🥚🐣🐰
Zeronet = Same internet, but better for the planet. They plant 5 trees for every customer.
Ears to a great Easter
with 6 months half price! 🥚🐣🐰
Zeronet = Same internet, but better for the planet. They plant 5 trees for every customer.
$89.95/m for 12 months, 
then standard pricing of 
$105/m applies. 12-month term. 
T&Cs apply. Offer closes 1 April 2024.
$89.95/m for 12 months,
then standard pricing of
$105/m applies. 12-month term. 
T&Cs apply. Offer closes 1 April 2024.