[News] Fibre-Only ISP MyRepublic Is About to Launch in NZ

[Update 12/10/14: Clarified second-to-last sentence about not needing a contract when signing up to MyRepublic’s free 3-month trial.]

MyRepublic, a fibre-only ISP, announced its plans for the NZ broadband market (in particular the NZ UFB market) last night at a launch event at the Stardome Observatory in Auckland. The official launch for NZ consumers is on Sunday 12th of October 2014.

Earlier this year, MyRepublic in Singapore became the first operator in South-East Asia to offer consumer fibre broadband plans of 1 Gigabit per second (1Gbps) at mass market prices — a move that has made that nation’s internet access one of the fastest and most affordable in the world. Now in New Zealand, MyRepublic looks to achieve the same.

MyRepublic has two specialised plans for its customers to be able to choose from.

The PURE (100/20Mbps) plan, which costs $99 per month, on MyRepublic is ideal for internet users who enjoys streaming online content. According to MyRepublic, their network is designed in such a way that video streaming data is given top priority, protecting it from long buffering times during peak periods of heavy network usage.

Meanwhile, on MyRepublic’s GAMER (100/50Mbps) plan, which costs $109 per month, gaming data is given that added layer of protection, a selling point for online gamers who value low and stable latency.

MyRepublic has partnered with New Zealand’s premier distributor, Exeed, to enable consumers and businesses to sign up via retail stores and system integrators along the length and breadth of the country.

MyRepublic is also offering UFB for businesses, launching unlimited data business fibre broadband plans from $199 a month for 100Mbps.

Vaughan Baker, MyRepublic NZ Managing Director, says that MyRepublic is utilizing the capabilities of UFB to ensure every customer has a unique experience on their network.

“MyRepublic is purpose-built to unleash the potential of the UFB. We engineer the network using its unique capabilities to provide the best online streaming and gaming experience possible. Nobody else is doing that. By leveraging the UFB, we’re actually able to customise the internet experience for each and every customer.”

Also available as a service is Fibre TV, a MyRepublic video streaming service that builds on the UFB’s massive potential as a prime driver of over-the-top (OTT) content. With Fibre TV, customers are offered access and premium connectivity to a variety of online TV channels and entertainment content libraries locally and from across the globe. Hugely popular overseas streaming providers Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and Pandora Internet Radio are some of the websites that have been optimised for viewing with MyRepublic Fibre TV.

MyRepublic’s Fibre TV is currently free for 3 months at launch, but will be an additional $15 per month thereafter.

Baker says that a lot of internet users are increasingly turning to the internet, for their entertainment needs, which include streaming on-demand content.

“An increasing number of consumers are getting their entertainment from online sources. They are discarding their set-top box and traditional TV viewing habits for over-the-top content delivery that allows them to only pay for the content they want to watch.”

Baker also claims that people are using “cumbersome VPN technology” to access on-demand streams from overseas e.g Netflix and that MyRepublic has a better offering for these people, similar to Global Mode. However, he sounded a bit unsure (or was trying to keep a secret) about exactly how their VPN technology works, when asked about it last night at the launch event.

“Many consumers access global OTT content via cumbersome VPN technology, MyRepublic’s Fibre TV manages the VPN interface in the cloud, delivering seamless access without the need for configuration by the end user. Multiple devices can access multiple sites simultaneously.”

MyRepublic are also inviting homes across New Zealand to experience its 100Mbps unlimited fibre broadband service free for 3 months (no-contract required) for customers who sign up or register before 15 November 2014.

The limited-time offer will be available via MyRepublic’s website from Sunday, 12 October 2014 to residents across New Zealand with a UFB fibre-ready residential address.

And unlike BigPipe broadband, MyRepublic will require you to be on a contract when you sign up to their paid plans (not including their 3-month free trial).

For more information please visit: http://myrepublic.co.nz/

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