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If you are still getting frustrated by slow internet speeds
there's new hope because Telecom has opened up its exchanges,
promising faster and cheaper broadband services.
The hitch is that some may still have to wait years to see the
benefits.
Telecom symbolically handed Orcon and iHug executives access cards to its Ponsonby exchange in Auckland on Thursday.
"We're delighted that we can do this so quickly," says Mark Ratcliffe, Telecom chief operating officer.
But the 15-month wait since the government ordered Telecom to unbundle the local loop has tested the patience of internet providers.
"For Orcon this has been a long time coming," says Scott Bartlett, Orcon chief executive.
There are similar sentiments from Mark Rushworth, iHug chief executive.
"I feel like a 16-year-old, getting the keys to my father's Cortina again, so a long time coming," he says.
Orcon says it is installing the latest German technology to transform the broadband market.
Bartlett, says the company now has the capacity to deliver broadband about 12 times faster than the current fastest in New Zealand.
And iHug says it will offer faster and cheaper broadband and home phone services.
Rushworth says iHug can finally move its customers off Telecom wholesale.
Telecom says it's relaxed about the competition.
"They'll look to innovate around the technology they're doing and our retail units within Telecom will look to do the same," says Ratcliffe.
But don't expect an overnight revolution. Based on current projections, it will take several years to open up all 450 of Telecom's exchanges.
"Of course I would like to see more and more exchanges being unbundled faster," says iHug's Rushworth.
Orcon's Bartlett says other countries in the OECD have had this sort of access for about five years.
And the residents of Ponsonby should not hold their breath
either because this is only a trial to test access protocols and
equipment before it's rolled out later this year.
