Wireless Nation simplifies UFB roll-out for apartment buildings
Multi-unit dwellings to avert ‘last mile’ installation nightmares with DSLAM technology
Auckland, 22 April 2013 - Wireless Nation’s new ‘Hotwire’ service enables apartment managers, owners and tenants to reap
the benefits of Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) without having to individually re-cable each unit.
Over 20,000 people live in apartments, or ‘multi-unit dwellings’ (MDUs) in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch alone.
The prospect of coordinating new UFB cable connections for each apartment unit will be daunting for the managers of
these buildings, who often need to halt lift access for hours or make other logistical arrangements to accommodate
installation teams.
For example, when a new fibre-to-the-home network was rolled out in Hong Kong, gaining access to MDUs was “a really
serious but often overlooked factor in deploying the infrastructure” according to a senior spokesman for operator
Pacific Century Cyberworks, which reported problems from basic building access to disturbing building decoration. In
Australia, National Broadband Network Co. experienced significant problems with roll-out in the Melbourne area. Chairman
Harrison Young told a press conference in 2011 that rental situations were particularly challenging, where obtaining
consent from both tenant and landlord had proven labour-intensive and time-consuming.
The Wireless Nation Hotwire solution is based on Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) technology. The
multiplexer device sits in-building at street level connecting the single UFB pipe to the building’s existing copper
telephone lines, and converts signals from digital to analogue. A VDSL router in each resident’s suite converts the
signal back to digital. Over such a short distance, the existing lines can maintain speeds of 100Mbps.
“Hotwire is a simple and efficient alternative to delivering the last mile of UFB access to those 20,000+ apartment
dwellers in New Zealand,” said Tom Linn, Wireless Nation Technical Director. “As UFB started becoming a reality we saw
the opportunity to solve a common problem in a lot of buildings with a globally proven technology – and went to work
negotiating with suppliers for competitive rates.”
Wireless Nation has signed an exclusive reseller agreement with Sino-Telecom to distribute its DSL products in New
Zealand. The agreement incorporates business development, commercial and technical support, documentation, spare parts
and consumables.
Three Auckland buildings have already converted to Hotwire: 85 Beach Road, 30 Heather Street in Parnell, and Perspective
Apartments in Ponsonby. “The Beach was an awkward building; we found it incredibly difficult to find a good technical
solution and residents were actually moving out because of the poor internet service,” says Tony Woodworth of First
Street Body Corp Management Ltd, which manages all three buildings. “Wireless Nation installed the equipment for the
entire building in just two days and now we can provide leading edge broadband connectivity without any more
installation headaches. We can’t wait to get the rest of our buildings connected, its added real value to each complex
and the residents love it.”
About Wireless Nation
Established in 2005, Wireless Nation is a telecommunications service provider offering broadband internet services to
every New Zealander. The company provides a variety of connectivity options including Kordia’s extend wireless network,
ADSL, VDSL, copper cable or satellite, as well as in-building and “hotspot” systems.
ENDS