New Zealand’s Fairfax Media is launching a new broadband service. It announced a joint venture with New Zealand Fibre Communications to launch Stuff Fibre, a fibre-only service with 100 Mbps ultrafast broadband, unlimited data and no fixed term contracts. The launch of Stuff Fibre is part of troubled Fairfax Media's move away from advertising-only revenue.
Stuff Fibre will be led by managing director Sam Morse, who says the company is entering the final testing phase and will launch in the coming weeks.
The new Stuff will have to compete with Spark, Vodafone and dozens of smaller providers. More than 240,000 New Zealand homes are already connected to fibre and more than 830 new households and businesses connect every working day. "The demand for fibre is growing rapidly and our research tells us that this is an
Fairfax New Zealand is in talks to merge with rival NZME. Both companies told the Commerce Commission they don’t make much money and that margins are razor thin.
As one New Zealand commentator said: “It makes sense to try something new. Fairfax has one major advantage over broadband rivals. It is a media company. Most New Zealand visitors to the Stuff website will be broadband customers. It can carpet bomb compelling offers to this audience at next to no cost. Any unsold advertising inventory on its site can now earn its keep. On the downside, if Stuff Fibre fails despite wall-to-wall online marketing, it sends a negative message to the company’s advertisers about the effectiveness of its advertising.”
