For immediate use
Date 29 October 2013

‘Call us GTown’: Porirua Hits the Ground Running with Chorus Gigatown Bid

Porirua City is ready to claim the mantle of GTown, announcing its bid today in the Chorus Gigatown competition.

Mayor Nick Leggett made the announcement in a YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmMm98fBEEY released this morning to coincide with the formal launch of the competition:

“Porirua wants it. Why? Because every household in Porirua needs a passport to the digital world. Every kid in Porirua needs to grow up a digital native. Every business needs access to the best technology on offer to help them grow and create jobs. Every entrepreneur who calls Porirua home should have world class digital technology right at their doorstep. Ultra Fast Broadband is not for geeks or elites. It’s for all of us.”

Mayor Nick Leggett said the Council was planning to lead a citywide collaboration to cement its claim.

“We will enlist schools, businesses, sporting clubs, community groups and households to spread the message far and wide that Porirua City is ideally placed to make the most of next generation broadband. This will be an open sourced campaign,” Mayor Nick Leggett said.

Porirua has the youngest population of any city in New Zealand, and its diverse population makes it an ideal testing ground for the 1 gigabit per second ultrafast broadband offered by Chorus to the winning entrant in the Gigatown competition.

“Everyone I talk to, even in Wellington, calls it a ‘no brainer’. Porirua was custom made for this kind of innovation,” Mayor Leggett said.

The Porirua Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Council’s initiative, and said businesses in the city are quick to see the upside of faster broadband.

The Porirua Chamber of Commerce is a vocal supporter of this campaign: “Porirua is home to a dynamic and creative business community which already uses technology to grow and develop. Becoming New Zealand’s Gigatown would strengthen our existing economy, attract new businesses and jobs and contribute to the message that Porirua is focussed on the future. We will be working closely with our business community to leverage this opportunity,” says Chamber Executive Director Holly Thompson.

Ends.

The website for Porirua’s bid is GTown.org.nz, its Facebook page is at GTownPorirua and its Twitter handle is @GTownPorirua.

For more information on Chorus’s Gigatown competition go to www.gigatown.co.nz

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