Orcon is now selling the same broadband services to businesses and residential customers, relaunching its services by no longer distinguishing between the two markets.
The internet service provider (ISP), owned by Vocus who also manages the Slingshot and Flip brands, now offers either fibre or hyperfibre broadband packages for customers.
It has also introduced a priority support ‘bolt-on’ for $15 per month that promises to move customers to the front of the customer service queue.
Orcon said it achieves this by paying local fibre companies such as Chorus to attend to the problem straight away.
At a launch event in Auckland, Orcon chief executive Taryn Hamilton likened this to flying with Air New Zealand, where you get a great experience if you turn right when boarding to the economy seats, but you’ll get a little better service if you pay more and can turn left to business class.
The telco’s fibre plans are available from $89.95 per month for 100Mbps, up to 950Mbps.
Its hyperfibre plans, which tap into Chorus’ most advanced broadband network, are now available from $149.95 per month for speeds of up to 2,000Mbps, with the price of its existing 4,000Mbps tariff lowered to $184.95.
A new top tier 8,000Mbps plan is to debut soon, but the top speeds available depends on customers’ location, network equipment, and personal technology hardware – true of any fibre or hyperfibre service.
“Connectivity in the home is no longer just about smooth 4K streaming. We know people run business-critical applications from their home office, and there’s a need to offer more than just a straight pipe,” said Hamilton.
“We saw a real opportunity to create an ISP straddling the reality of a blended world and offering new and innovative solutions to modern internet problems.”
Perks
Most consumers do not need hyperfibre. The bandwidth offered is designed to cater for large businesses with many on-site workers.
Telcos are traditionally less than helpful when it comes to explaining such things to customers, but Orcon’s new website at least tries to explain who its plans are for.
“Everyone at your place can do more of what they love online with Orcon Fibre, from streaming the latest TV shows and movies to ultra-low latency gaming with no data caps or throttling,” it says of its standard fibre plans.
The ISP has a partnership with Google where it offers Google’s Nest Wi-Fi units to outfit premises with Wi-Fi. They are mesh Wi-Fi units, which work better to spread strong signals than signal boosters, which can often extend a weakened signal.
A new Wi-Fi Pro service is designed to help outfit customers’ premises with the right number of Nests for the best possible coverage, and Orcon said it will refund the latest monthly charges and waive early termination fees for unsatisfied customers.
Just in case the Wi-Fi does go down and you aren’t at the front of the customer service queue, Orcon offers customers 4G backup, where a 4G SIM inserted into the Wi-Fi modem can kick in and act as a temporary connectivity fallback if the fibre goes down.
