Gigabit fibre lit up in Wanaka's business district

Start-up entrepreneurs, innovators and creative professionals sharing the collaboration space in Wanaka's The Cell on Helwick Street will be among the first in New Zealand to take advantage of gigabit fibre broadband.

Up to five times faster than the fastest fibre plans available today, gigabit broadband opens up new opportunities for businesses to take advantage of high-speed, high-capacity internet access that would until recently been solely the domain of corporate businesses.

Wanaka was awarded the Chorus sponsored gigabit service now available at The Cell in recognition of the tremendous effort the town put into their 2014 Gigatown campaign. While Dunedin stole a march on first place, the competition galvanised the Wanaka Gigatown Campaign group into continuing its pursuit of fibre broadband internet access in Wanaka and this resulted in the installation of fibre services in the Wanaka CBD in 2015.

Tim Harris, Chorus' Chief Commercial Officer was in Wanaka to celebrate the launch of the gig at The Cell.

"The Cell is clearly a fantastic facility to have in the heart of Wanaka. It's a great to see a collaborative space where aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses can explore their ideas and work with others to turn them into reality. I'm confident the shared access to gigabit broadband offered by MyRepublic and available in The Cell will help attract new start-ups and businesses to develop themselves in Wanaka and I'm delighted Chorus has been able to play a role."

Kelly Good, Director of The CUBE and founding member of the Wanaka Gigatown campaign group, said this gigabit connection is another positive outcome of the incredible amount of work that went into the Gigatown campaign and ongoing activity that has been undertaken around fibre infrastructure development in and around Wanaka. “This gigabit connection will not only open up opportunities for those that currently operate at The Cell and others who have requirements for high speed/high capacity internet access, but further reflects the strong relationship that The Cell and The CUBE have formed with Chorus, as an outcome of the Gigatown campaign”, Kelly said.

Fibre reach in Wanaka

Chorus' fibre network now extends to over 1,000 homes and businesses in and around Wanaka with more than 400 addresses connected. Across the country demand for fibre is at an all-time high as families see the benefits of fibre in their increasingly connected lives.

Commenting on extending the reach of fibre in Wanaka, Tim Harris said, "While Wanaka wasn't included in the first phase of the Government's Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative, phase two of the UFB roll out is set to be announced later this year. If successful, our hope is that many more Wanaka residents would soon after be able to realise the benefits of fibre in their homes and businesses."

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