Hawera one of first to get ultra-fast broadband

Hawera, New Plymouth and Wanganui will be among the first places to benefit from the government’s rollout of ultra-fast broadband (UFB), the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Steven Joyce, announced today. (Click here for Minister’s release)

Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH) has completed negotiations with two partner companies, Northpower Ltd and Ultrafast Fibre Ltd (owned by WEL Networks) who will rollout fibre in Hawera, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Whangarei, Hamilton (which includes Cambridge and Te Awamutu), Tauranga and Tokoroa. These are the first 7 areas CFH has negotiated the UFB rollout and will shortly announce a list of parties with whom it will next elect to negotiate with in the remaining 25 UFB regions.

Ultra Fast Fibre is expected to begin laying fibre early in 2011 and will be completed by 2015.

South Taranaki District Mayor, Ross Dunlop, says he is extremely excited that Hawera will be one of the first places in New Zealand to benefit from the government’s ultra-fast broadband initiative.

“This is a big deal for Hawera and for New Zealand,” says Mayor Dunlop. “ Not only will the ultra fast fibre network deliver broadband speeds at least 50 times faster than those currently available in New Zealand. This will be the single biggest boost to New Zealand’s infrastructure for decades and it is exciting that a smaller town like Hawera will be at the forefront of this technology,” he says.

“Having the ability to take ‘fibre to the door’ in Hawera will significantly increase productivity for business and improve service delivery in health and education. It will provide an affordable way to communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime,” says Mr Dunlop.

ENDS

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