Tens of thousands of New Zealanders are in reach of Gigabit broadband, a bit of a game changer in the digital realm.
Which is why Ultrafast Fibre Limited and Northpower Fibre's latest announcement is exciting for Kiwis.
The two companies have confirmed their one Gigabit (1Gbps) residential Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) product will be available to broadband users in their regions from tomorrow, the first of October 2016.
With some of the highest fibre broadband uptake in New Zealand, the local companies expect the Gigabit product to continue driving the widespread adoption of UFB.
William Hamilton, chief executive of Ultrafast Fibre, says the locally owned Local Fibre Companies (LFCs) are proud to have led the UFB-wide delivery of the Gigabit opportunity to New Zealanders, and have worked together with Retail Service Providers to allow residents access to truly world-class fibre broadband.
"With this 1Gbps product, via the Government's UFB Initiative, New Zealand joins the global broadband speed elite, alongside the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea," says Hamilton.
"Last month we announced our decision to release the 1Gbps product across our fully complete networks, which subsequently proved the catalyst for a launch across the whole of the available UFB network.
Both Ultrafast Fibre and Northpower Fibre have successfully completed the build of their own networks.
When combined, these networks will provide fibre access to around 220,000 customers across Ultrafast Fibre's Central North Island region including Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth, Whanganui, Hawera, Cambridge, Tokoroa and Te Awamutu and Northpower Fibre's Whangarei network.
For Darren Mason, chief executive of Northpower Fibre, its about New Zealanders taking advantage of the fibre availability.
"It is not only the significantly enhanced speed or bandwidth that is a compelling reason to switch to fibre, it's the reliability and consistency of performance of the future-proofed technology as well - along with the experience Gigabit connectivity provides,"he says.
"We are really looking forward to seeing how our communities, and more broadly New Zealand Inc, continue to innovate and achieve great things, through adopting this exciting new technology.
