In mid-February Orcon unbundled its first South Island exchanges in Christchurch and Dunedin.

The firm also announced that it would be unbundling Palmerston North and Rotorua before the end of the month.

While slightly later than planned (less than two weeks), Orcon has today confirmed to TechDay that the unbundling of Palmerston North is now complete.

The delay has been attributed to the events in Christchurch.

"The roll-out was delayed as staff and suppliers focused on maintaining networks in Christchurch.

"Palmerston North is now live,” said a company spokesperson.

From today Palmerston North residents can sign up for Orcon’s local loop unbundled (LLU) telephone and ADSL2+ broadband network service – Orcon+.

Regarding Rotorua going live, the firm added, "Rotorua is ready to go, but not live."

A specific date has yet to be confirmed but Orcon told us it would be "live later this week".

In the pursuit of ultra-fast broadband, Crown Fibre Holdings this morning announced that it had selected the Central Fibre Consortium for prioritised negotiations.