Hon Amy Adams

Minister for Communications

26 November 2015
Greymouth joins ranks of fully-fibred towns

Greymouth has become the twelfth New Zealand town to be fully-fibred under the Government’s Ultra-Fast Broadband programme, Communications Minister Amy Adams announced today.

“Around 4000 homes, businesses, schools and health facilities in Greymouth are now able to connect to ultra-fast internet using our world class fibre-to-the-premise network,” says Ms Adams.

“Ensuring our regions have the best possible access to connectivity will help the West Coast regional economy to diversify and develop. It will also help build tourism and provide a platform to attract investment and migrants to the region.

“The West Coast is one of New Zealand’s more remote regions and today’s completion of the UFB build in Greymouth provides a huge boost to the town’s ability to attract new people and businesses.”

Greymouth is the first town where Chorus has connected fibre to power poles just below existing electricity lines thanks to an agreement reached with local lines company Westpower. This has allowed the build to be completed in just under two years.

The total investment in Greymouth’s UFB build by the Government and its partner Chorus was nearly $8.5 million.

With uptake sitting at 6.9 per cent, Ms Adams encouraged residents and businesses to sign up to the network and experience the full benefit of high speed broadband.

Ms Adams says providing as many New Zealanders as possible with connectivity was a Government priority.

“To help extend connectivity further we’ve set aspirational targets that aim to see virtually all Kiwis, regardless of where they live or work, able to access broadband at peak speeds of 50 Megabits per second speed by 2025.

“We’ve also allocated an additional $360 million dollars in Budget 2015 to extend the Ultra-Fast Broadband and Rural Broadband Initiatives and create a Mobile Black Spot Fund to improve coverage on highways and tourist areas.”

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