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North Shore City soon to be one of the most connected cities in country

January 18, 2007

A major step towards super fast broadband for North Shore City was made yesterday [January 17] with the first length of fibre optic cable being put in the ground.

North Shore City Mayor George Wood and Vector CEO Mark Franklin were present as 'the first sod' was turned outside Albany School.

Both men agreed that once completed, North Shore City will be one of the most connected cities in the country and it will revolutionise the educational and commercial opportunities in North Shore City.

Mr Wood says that access to world-class broadband infrastructure had long been identified by the council as critical to the future growth and prosperity of the region.

"Businesses will benefit from the greater efficiencies and lower transaction costs that broadband will bring, and even more technology and knowledge-based industries will be attracted to the area," he says.

According to independent research conducted by AC Nielsen, four out of five North Shore homes are on the Internet - the highest rate in New Zealand.

Funding of $4.6 million to accelerate the provision of affordable broadband services in North Shore City was awarded to the joint council and Vector application as part of the Government's digital strategy.

Mr Franklin says that the urban fibre network will show how a partnership between local government and business can facilitate the roll-out of a true broadband network enabling the delivery of next generation services on competitive open access principles.

Vector will build the fibre network that will span from Browns Bay to Devonport and from Birkdale to Takapuna, and will involve the roll out of 38kms of new fibre. The network will operate under open access principles and will be owned, managed and maintained by Vector.

Once the network is completed by July 7, 45 schools, six libraries, and other council facilities will have access to high quality broadband services providing speeds of up to 1 Gigabit/second (or 1,000 Megabits/second). A number of North Shore businesses will also be able to take advantage of the open access broadband network.

Mr Franklin believes that the adoption of state-of-the-art communications in schools could serve as a catalyst to stimulate wider community uptake of broadband services.

"Young people are generally early adopters of new technology and the opportunities it can provide. They can also effectively communicate their expectation of having access to this technology within their wider community."

Over 30,000 students in North Shore City will have the opportunity to connect together, share educational resources, and develop applications to enhance their development and their opportunities.

The $24 million Broadband Challenge Fund is to provide seed funding to improve the availability and quality of broadband Internet access. It aims to establish a series of urban fibre networks by 2009, and to develop broadband Internet access solutions for rural and poorly served communities.

ENDS

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