The short answer is not really. There’s been some confusion between the “Copper Withdrawal” and the “PSTN Shutdown”, but today I’ll write very briefly about the former.
Chorus is the owner of New Zealand’s copper telephone cables.
Chorus can only stop supplying copper services where households can access the same services over the fibre network. In areas where fibre is not currently available Chorus must continue to supply copper services.
The copper withdrawal is largely irrelevant to Rural NZ due to the lack of fibre.
Detailed information on whats happening now is available in the Copper Withdrawal Code
Also slightly irrelevant, but here’s a photo from the start of the fibre revolution. Back in 1983, NZ Post Office supervising engineer Ian Harris holds on the left the old copper co-axial cable, and on the right the new cable with four fine fibres. Fibre began to be used to connect the major telephone exchanges in the early 1980’s.
Photo credits:
Wellington manual telephone exchange. Lander, J M :Photographs of telephone exchanges and other post office material. Ref: PAColl-0715-1-01. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22318135
Ian Harris holding telephone cables – Photograph taken by Phil Reid on 16 March 1983. Dominion Post (Newspaper): Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP/1983/0930/27-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23155397
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