Tarata, Taranaki. SW View
News
Boarshead, Kaitake. East View.
Sara da Silva
Customer Success Technician
Sara da Silva.
Customer Success Technician.
Sara da Silva is one of the best-travelled members of the Primo team.
Born in Brazil, her dad’s work saw the family travel to Botswana, South Africa, New Zealand, Dallas, Texas, and now she’s back to New Plymouth.
She joined the Primo help desk in late July and has been enjoying the positivity and support, while also studying online for a degree in Cloud Engineering.
Sara’s also enjoying the positive attitude of the customers who are eager to jump in to fix any issues together. She says troubleshooting is a two-way street, and Primo’s customers are always ready to give things a go!
Ben Payne
Ben Payne.
Installer.
Ben Payne’s made the leap from music to megabits as Primo’s newest installer, bringing broadband to rural users around Taranaki.
After a long stint in all areas of the music biz from retail, playing and band management, including many years with Kora, he’s now loving the epic views on the road and meeting great people on the job. It also gives him a chance to use his experience from Broadspectrum as a fibre installer to help with the rollout of Primo Fibre.
Ben lives in Ōkato with partner Christine and their young son Oliver. He’s big on customer care, loves to surf, and reckons being a “needy dad” is his best gig yet.
Erwin Pangilinan
Customer Success Technician.
Erwin Pangilinan.
Customer Success Technician.
Erwin Pangilinan is one of the friendly voices on the Primo help desk.
With a Master’s degree in IT from Auckland’s Whitecliffe College and an engineering degree from the Philippines, Erwin brings a solid technical skillset to the team. He’s worked as an engineer in Singapore, where he also volunteered at a bird park – he’s all about helping out!
At Primo, he’s diving into wireless broadband tech and all things connectivity, and sharing his own skills and his passion for customer service. Outside of work he enjoys exploring nature on his bike and hanging out with his ginger cat, Waffles.
He’s loving the fun, supportive vibe at Primo and says every day comes with a good laugh.
Top Bloke
Awesome dude. Tricky install, and worked well with myself to make it happen. Top bloke! – New Connection Survey May 2025
Lovely people
Lovely people to deal with because l really don’t like dealing technical things lol. It was all made very easy. So cheers !! -Ticket Feedback June 2025
I&C-update
What to expect.
Fibre rollout in your street
If you’re in the fibre build area, you’ll receive a letter from us with info about the rollout timeline and how to get your property connected. Our contractor, Subterrain Drilling, will install underground ducting along the street using directional drilling or digging where needed. This ducting is used to run the fibre later, and roadside cabinets and access pits will also be installed.
Connecting your home or business
Once you’ve registered and completed the Fibre Installation Consent Form, your install job is passed to Subterrain. Standard installation is free for most properties — if your driveway is over 100 metres or you need a second connection, we’ll provide a quote first. Wherever possible, we’ll use existing telecom ducts, or install new ducting underground to your home. You don’t need to be home on the day, but we’ll call you to confirm the plan. An External Termination Point (ETP) will be installed on the outside of your building near the street access point.
Final fibre connection and setup
Primo technicians take care of the final steps. First, we’ll blow the fibre through from the cabinet to your ETP. You don’t need to be home for this. Then we’ll return to install internal cabling from the ONT to your router location. This may involve cabling under the floor or through the ceiling, depending on your house. You’ll need to be home for this part. We’ll also install your router and make sure the connection is working as it should.
If you’re currently a Primo Wireless customer, we’ll also remove the radio from your roof.
Want more detail or to see example photos of the process? Click here for a PDF
More About the Installation & Consent Process
What to expect.
Laying fibre in your street.
Residents in the fibre build area receive information from us, letting them know about the fibre build, the timeframe and how to register for their own fibre installation.
Our contractor, Subterrain Drilling, will use, where they can, existing underground pipes. They may need to dig or drill along the street to install ducting which we use to blow the fibre through to connect your property. This work also involves installing roadside cabinets.
Laying fibre from your street boundary to your house.
Once you have registered and signed the Build Consent form along with confirmation of your Fibre Plan, your install job is given to Subterrain Drilling. Standard install costs are covered by Primo except where you may have a long driveway (more than 100m) or want a secondary connection, in these cases a quote will be provided to you for the work.
Subterrain will contact you when they are about to do the work. You don’t need to be home, but it is preferable that you are. If you aren’t they will need to reach you by phone so they can then discuss the install plan with you. They will be installing underground either by directional drilling or digging a small trench. Many properties have existing telecommunications ducting which they will try to use if available.
An External Termination Point (ETP) is installed to the outside of your house, at the closest point to the road and the street boundary entry point.
This can sometimes be a messy business, and they’ll do their best to clean up after themselves. Please note that full reinstatement of your property is not likely to be done on the same day, they will come back to do it. Properties are usually grouped on the same street ie those that need grass seeded, or concrete etc.
Getting your Fibre connection online.
The last stages to get you connected involve our Primo technicians. The External Termination Point (ETP) houses the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) and installation of the internal router placement.
First, they will blow the fibre from our cabinet to your ETP using compressed air, you will not need to be home when this is done.
Secondly, we will need to do the internal cabling from the ONT to the point inside your house where your router will be located. Depending on how your house is built, cabling will either be run under the floor or in the ceiling. You will need to be home for this, and we will schedule an appointment with you. Your Primo router will be set up at this visit, and our technicians will test the fibre service to ensure it’s up and running.
If you are an existing wireless customer with Primo, we will also remove our radio from your roof. Note, that these stages may or may not be done on the same day.
No mess left
Installer arrived on time and was very professional. Fitted equipment and tested whilst on site. No mess left afterward, very impressed. – New Connection Survey April 2025