Exclusive: How Chorus' Express Connect is changing data centre connectivity in NZ

When Chorus NZ launched Express Connect, its newest carrier-neutral data centre connectivity service, they chose to debut it at Datacentre220 - a facility known as the most connected data centre in New Zealand. 

TechDay sat down with Theresa Corballis,  Sales Lead for Data Centre Infrastructure at Chorus, to talk about the product, why speed matters, and how the partnership came together.

Why speed is everything

"Express Connect is a purpose-built product for data centres," Corballis told me. "It delivers enterprise-grade performance and carrier neutrality, and we've established a commitment of being able to deliver within four business hours."

Previously, our equipment was deployed in ways that worked for general connectivity needs. Express Connect changes the game by offering a design specifically suited to data-centre environments.

By pre-building and remotely provisioning the Express Connect service, Chorus has streamlined deployment and accelerated service readiness.". "All of the equipment inside the data centre is ready to go, from the street to the rack," Corballis said. "Our fibre is set up and ready, so when an order comes through, we just pre-provision the port and can turn it up in as little as four business hours. A lot of times it won't even take that four hours."

Building resilience into the design

Express Connect isn't just about speed - it's about resilience and uptime when it matters most. Chorus has designed the service with dual optical line terminals (OLTs) and physically diverse fibre paths.

"If one service were severed for any reason, the other is completely untouched," Corballis said.  "Chorus installs two completely diverse active fibre paths into the datacentre to enable diversity.  

For IT teams, the result is simplicity.

 "With Express Connect, there is no requirement for a separate technician to install anything in the data centre", she explained. "IT teams value the simplicity -  It avoids the hassle of installing and locating equipment on-site, which is often time-consuming, and introduces complexity and potential points of failure."  

Who is it for?

When I asked where Express Connect will make the biggest impact, Corballis pointed to industries where downtime or packet loss is unacceptable: banking, healthcare, media, gaming.

AI is another driver. "Everyone's gearing up to serve AI in one way or another," she said. "Real-time data processing is critical, and some of our higher-capacity premium plans are suited to that."

Hybrid cloud workloads also stand to benefit.

"Cloud applications that have tight coordination between on-premise or hyperscale cloud and other colo facilities - this is perfectly suited for that," she said. Even day-to-day enterprise IT tasks like backups are smoother.

"If you interrupt the data flow of a backup, you might have to start over. Symmetrical bandwidth makes it perfectly suited for those workloads."

Why launch with Datacentre220?

Express Connect's first deployment went live at Datacentre220, a facility Corballis described as "iconic" and uniquely suited to the launch.

"When we started talking about the best location to launch our new solution, we reached out to Ross and coordinated, and it went from there," she said.

The partnership proved valuable beyond location.

"Datacentre220's CEO Ross Delaney and General Manager Nick Leishman worked really well with us, not only on the deployment but with feedback too," Corballis said.

" Working closely with Datacentre220 to coordinate a process for timely handoff for the cross-connect (the cabling between the Telco meet-me room equipment and a rack in the data centre hall) step is important to delivering  in-rack connectivity." 

The response has been nothing but swift, according to Corballis.

"People are saying, 'That was so fast, the turnaround time was amazing,'" she said. And it hasn't gone unnoticed elsewhere. "Other data centres are hearing about it as well. We've had approaches from Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, as well as other Auckland facilities."

'Just the beginning'

Chorus is keeping formal metrics under wraps for now but plans to share updates as the rollout matures. "It's kind of early days for percentages," Corballis said. 

For now, she sees the launch with Datacentre220 as "just the beginning of something bigger". We're planning to expand Express Connect to nine additional data centre locations over the next 12-months. 

"It's an exciting time for infrastructure in Aotearoa, and I'm proud to be part of the team helping shape what comes next."