Are Christchurch fibre users paying too much? Regulator eyes Enable’s profits

Thursday, 19 February 2026

Christchurch’s council-owned fibre network is earning returns above the regulator’s benchmark, raising questions about whether customers are getting their fair share of the gains.

A new report from the Commerce Commission, its first look at the profitability of regulated fibre providers, shows Enable earned returns above the benchmark in 2023 and 2024.

For Enable, which provides wholesale fibre across greater Christchurch, the regulator found its returns were 0.7 percentage points above its benchmark in 2023 and 1.48 points above in 2024. In short, its profits were higher than the level the commission sees as fair.

The watchdog says if a company’s returns stay above that benchmark for a long time, it may be earning excess profits and should share more of the gains with customers.

In Enable’s case, the commission points to two main drivers: lower day-to-day operating costs than its peers, partly attributed to a new operations support system, and lower depreciation because it assumes longer lives for key assets such as ducts and manholes.

The watchdog says short-term outperformance from efficiency is acceptable, but if higher-than-benchmark returns persist it would expect customers to see some benefit.

The money involved is significant. Enable reported net profit after tax of $28.3 million in 2023 and $34.4m in 2024, and paid dividends of $20m in each of those years to its owner, Christchurch City Holdings Limited, the investment arm of the Christchurch City Council.

Those payouts help support the council’s budget at a time of pressure on rates and debt.

Enable also sits in the middle of Christchurch’s wider “asset recycling” debate – whether to sell or partially sell council-owned companies to free up cash for new infrastructure or to pay down debt.

In December, councillor Sam MacDonald floated a proposal to put Enable on the market, suggesting it could fetch about $1 billion.

For households, Enable’s status as a wholesale provider means its prices feed into what local retailers charge for fibre broadband.

The commission is not alleging wrongdoing and stresses that returns can move around from year to year. But it now plans to “engage with providers” to better understand both their costs and how they set prices.

The commission’s next round of engagement will now determine whether Christchurch fibre users eventually see any affect on their bills, or whether above-benchmark returns continue to flow mainly into council coffers.