Currently, fibre is only available at the Pegasus Bay School and the newest subdivisions on the northeast corner of Pegasus from Tiritiri Moana Drive (areas 12 and 13).
The PRGI have started discussions with Enable to determine the options for installing fibre throughout Pegasus. Unfortunately, Pegasus falls outside the criteria for government funding because the current Vodafone HFC network exceeds the government criteria of targeting areas with a speed under 20MB per second.
In addition, because Pegasus is a dead-end route there are no 'through' benefits of installing fibre.
It is estimated that it will cost $4-5 million to install fibre in Pegasus. This makes the commercial model for fibre more difficult, but it may still be possible to succeed if we get a high fibre take-up rate and are prepared to pay an installation fee.
Bearing the above in mind the PRGI is looking at the areas of greatest need. As a first priority, we are targeting the main town centre to enable fibre delivery to the medical centre and key businesses.
Enable has agreed to investigate the current fibre capacity to the Pegasus Bay School and how much work/cost is required to expand it and install fibre into the main town centre.
This will also give us a better understanding of the cost of installing fibre into the rest of Pegasus.
Once these costs are established, we will organise a meeting with residents to get their feedback on the proposed courses of action and funding options.
Lastly, while many areas in Pegasus receive satisfactory service through the Vodafone network, we are aware that there are some pockets that experience unreliable service. We are in the process of putting together a survey so residents can provide their thoughts and feedback on fibre in Pegasus and any current issues they experience. Keep an eye out for this in the coming weeks.
Comments