Hon Amy Adams

Minister for Communications and Information Technology


16 August, 2012 Media statement

UFB Deployment Starts In Nelson And Richmond

More than 20,000 premises in Nelson and Richmond will be covered by the Government’s ultra-fast broadband network when the project is finished, Communications and Information Technology Minister Amy Adams has announced.

Ms Adams made the comments at an event in Nelson this morning with Chorus to mark the start of work to build the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) network in the region.

The first customers in Nelson and Richmond are expected to be able to connect to the UFB network by October.

By July next year, about 6000 businesses, medical premises and households in the two regions will be covered by the network, as well as four schools, adding to the 37 schools that already had fibre connections.

The four new schools receiving connections by July next year are:

• Nelson College
• Clifton Terrace School
• Birchwood School
• Enner Glynn School

“High-speed broadband will mean more students at Nelson and Richmond schools will be able to share resources like physics and IT teachers. Students will be able to take part in virtual classrooms and courses that might not be available at their own schools. They could even learn French from a teacher in Paris.

“Real time two-way video connections will allow medical diagnosis from afar. We can spread specialists’ knowledge to all corners of New Zealand, which can save patients trips to other towns or cities to access the expertise they need.

“Ultra-fast broadband will mean businesses, innovators and entrepreneurs in Nelson and Richmond can compete with anyone anywhere in the world. The barriers of distance and time will be almost completely removed by UFB.”

ENDS

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