Auckland Council welcomes broadband announcement

Digitally-remote communities in the Auckland region will have the Auckland Council supporting their case for access to faster broadband and better connectivity.

Auckland Council has welcomed yesterday’s announcement by Minister Amy Adams to extend the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) and Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) programmes and her commitment to involve local authorities in the process.

“This is great news for our digitally-remote communities across the Auckland region, who now have the opportunity to access the significant economic and social benefits of faster broadband and better connectivity,” says Cr Linda Cooper, ward councillor for Waitakere, and advocate for improved broadband in rural Auckland.

“As the country’s biggest local authority we are hopeful of being closely involved in advocating for our rural communities on the Government proposals.”

Ms Cooper said following on from the Government’s initial announcement in September, Auckland Council has been working to identify which communities fall outside the current UFB and RBI footprints.

“This is an issue of significant interest for digitally-remote communities across the region and I would like to acknowledge the strong advocacy of our Local Boards in this area,” she said.

“We will review the detail of today’s announcement and determine what steps we need to take to support our communities to access this opportunity. This has the potential to deliver fantastic outcomes for local businesses and achieve much better access to education, health and employment services for residents” Cr Cooper says.

The opportunity for collaboration between council and Central Government on the parameters for these new programmes was one of the key areas identified in the council’s Briefing to the Incoming Government last year. See: here

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