Uncertainty over what replaces copper for rural households
The Commerce Commission yesterday recommended to the Government that access to the copper network be deregulated.
If the Minister agrees, that will allow Chorus to start removing the copper network, which the company expects to do by 2030.
Regulation of access to the network was put in place 20 years ago, and the Commerce Commission's Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson says there are now less than a third of rural customers using it.
He says most now have access to more than three alternative technologies like satellite broadband or wireless internet providers.
But with some 100,000 homes and businesses still using the copper network, Federated Farmers telecommunications spokesperson Mark Hooper says the removal of copper leaves a lot of people unsure as to what to move to.
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