Chorus Posts First Connection Growth in Years as Fibre Surge Brings Forward Copper Switch-Off

Chorus Limited ( (CHRUF) ) has issued an update.

Chorus has reported its first quarterly growth in total fixed-line connections since FY13, as rising fibre demand more than offset ongoing copper disconnections in the three months to 31 March 2026. Fibre connections rose to 1.142 million, lifting uptake across its footprint to 73.1% and driving a net increase of 3,000 lines, supported by robust data growth with average monthly usage up 8% year on year and business data consumption up 19%.

In tandem with this inflection point, the company has accelerated plans to retire its copper network, pulling forward the expected shutdown to 2028 from 2030 amid a roughly 50% fall in active copper lines over the past year. Chorus plans to coordinate with retailers and alternative network providers to transition the remaining 53,000 copper customers, a move underpinned by regulatory findings that widespread alternative broadband options make continued copper-specific regulation unnecessary.

More about Chorus Limited

Chorus Limited is New Zealand’s national fixed-line telecommunications network operator, providing wholesale broadband and voice infrastructure to retail service providers. The company focuses on fibre-to-the-premise deployment under the Ultra-Fast Broadband initiatives, while managing the progressive phase-out of its legacy copper network as customers migrate to fibre and other modern access technologies.

Find detailed analytics on CHRUF stock on TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.