1) Lack of true 'public' Data centre Space in NZ
I predict the actions Chorus are intending to take in opening up their exchanges in UFB areas (or possibly wider), will start to turn that around.
Chorus exchanges are not ICT centric in most places, i.e have lots of DC stuffs, not so much AC stuffs, and not so much(if any) Data-centre rack space in the smaller locations. As Nathan pointed out, having a south Island Landing point and a decent South Island Datacentre would make a lot more sense (may I suggest **NOT** Christchurch) for diversity and Datacentre options. AFAIK Pretty much all existing national connectivity passes through Ngaruawahia and creates a pinch point... this makes me nervous. The same can be said for Power in and out of Auckland Central, and at least for MDR they have load problems as well. Add to this the "this high to ride" issues which as some players have pointed out under UFB currently appears to prohibit innovative start-up use, although I appreciate that's not so much about this thread. Then you have the whole back-haul issue between LFC's. In short personally I don't see the central office provisions laid down as part of UFB contributing much to solving for this problem. This doesn't have much to do with Chorus in sum, and goes back to lack of Fibre Diversity and Population density issues.