Telecom has signed a wholesale Retail Service Provider (RSP) deal with Christchurch UFB builder Enable, with the telco’s ICT arm Gen-i looking forward to helping businesses re-build with the new technology.

Chris Quin, CEO of Gen-i, says the deal is in keeping with the government’s plan to prioritise uptake of the UFB network among businesses.

"We’ve seen increased demand for innovation and change from our Christchurch clients as they enhance their ICT capability to re-build their businesses and meet changing market demands,” Quin says in a statement.

"We look forward to signing up our first business clients to fibre services over Enable’s network soon, and partnering with them to realise the full benefits of ultra-fast broadband and create economic value for the Canterbury region.”

Telecom will also look to work with residential customers, and plans to trial bitstream services through its partnership with Enable.

Just last week Orcon became the first RSP to announce its pricing policy for internet services on the new network. We can expect more from other providers as connections to the network begin to rise.