Media release
For immediate release
September 9 2016

Access to Gig Optimises Gig Performance for Dunedin

Dunedin’s gig performance is set to be optimised with news that other parts of New Zealand will soon have access to gigabit broadband.

As New Zealand’s first GigCity (winners of the Chorus Gigatown competition), Dunedin businesses and residents have benefitted from gigabit technology for more than 18 months. As part of the Gigatown prize, almost $300,000 of Chorus funding has been awarded to smart city projects – and an additional $400,000 worth of funding is still to come.

The City welcomed yesterday’s announcement from Chorus that gigabit technology will be available from next month to residential and SME business fibre broadband services across the country. Dunedin residents and businesses will continue to have a price advantage for its gigabit plans.

“This is a natural evolution of the national fibre rollout and it’s great to see other centres able to access gigabit broadband and follow Dunedin’s well-established programme of success,” says Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull.

“That the rest of New Zealand will soon be able to follow our lead is fantastic news for the country. Gigabit speed is only fully optimised by everyone having access.

“Dunedin won the Chorus Gigatown competition on the strength of a fully engaged digital city with a forward-thinking digital plan for success. We have embraced the opportunities the win enabled, but GigCity is only the beginning.

"The Dunedin City Council invested a considerable amount of time and resources into the community-wide Gigatown campaign.

"The Council has built on that by committing a further $750,000 over three years to support GigCity projects that engage with the community, businesses and stakeholders. These include the development of the GigCity Living Hub, public wifi hot spots currently being rolled out across the city and engagement with the community and business groups to identify and meet digital capability requirements.

"This is a significant investment in the community and Council remains committed to making sure Dunedin maximises the advantages of being the first city in the southern hemisphere with gigabit speeds," says Mr Cull.

Eighteen months experience of gigabit broadband puts Dunedin right at the forefront of understanding about what gigabit broadband infrastructure can do for a city, says Kim Stewart, Chorus’ Dunedin liaison manager.

“There are now more than 5,500 gigabit broadband connections across the city and, with Chorus’ Ultra-Fast Broadband build at nearly 70 percent, we know there are another 25,000 who could take it up by simply talking to their service provider.

“There are some great stories to be told about gigabit connectivity and Dunedin has an important role to play in educating the rest of New Zealand about the opportunity.”

Digital Community Trust Chair John Gallaher agrees.

“But far and beyond Dunedin’s internet speed is the GigCity funding that has created the legacy of the Gigatown competition win,” says Digital Community Trust Chair John Gallaher.

“From GigCity Wi-Fi hotspots throughout Dunedin and the city outskirts giving free gig-enabled internet to Dunedin locals and visitors, through to exciting community projects and start-up businesses, Dunedin is one of the country’s leaders in smart city technology.

“GigCity has been part of a positive catalyst for change – providing the infrastructure to ensure Dunedin takes its place as a 21st century smart city.”

Some of the latest projects to receive funding include the Methodist Mission’s Virtual Reality Education programme; the Te Kaiwhakamaori English to Maori translation app; Learning with a Difference – an animated learning programme for dyslexic children; ResponseAbility – a health and safety application; and Bison, funded to develop a cloud-based data management system for the logistics sector.

Applications for the latest GigCity Community Fund round close today (Friday September 9).

ENDS

Notes to editor

Dunedin was given a total of $700,000 from Chorus as part of the Gigatown prize package

GigCity Community Fund - $500,000 of this is to assist organisations in our community to create initiatives that showcase how Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) technologies can contribute to social good of our city.
· The fund is available for community innovators exploring the use of UFB technologies aiming to enhance the development, experimentation and implementation of community, learning and workforce opportunities in Dunedin.
· The Digital Community Trust are managing this fund and to date, two rounds have been completed with $142,596 of the $500,000 awarded.
· Recipients to date include:

o Urban Dream Brokerage – Gig Technology installations within empty Dunedin store fronts
o Home of St Barnabas – Meals on Wheels App to assist with the delivery of meals to those in need
o Mozilla Hive Dunedin – Dunedin Hive has been mobilising people involved in digital innovation and outreach to deliver Maker Parties for children throughout the city. (Maker Parties are day long events made up of a series of workshops and nodules where the children create both on and off-line. Activities included in these events include – Stop Motion Animation, Robotics, Hologram making, Hoverboards , soldering circuits and much more)
o Gasworks.nz – Delivering digital innovation programmes in South Dunedin to children from less privileged backgrounds. Activities include Robotics, digital programming, Minecraft
o Methodist Mission – Virtual Reality Education for youth and adult high needs learners
o Logan Park High School in collaboration with Frederic Dichtel, Dr Romain Garby and Dr Ali Harang – Te Kaiwhakamaori an English to Maori online translator programme
o Kiwi Python New Zealand – 2016 Kiwi Pycon Minecraft programme to be held during the Kiwi Pycon conference in Dunedin in September
o Otago Polytechnic – Digitally Savvy Dunedin which is a programme to digitally upskill employees within Dunedin

GigStart Fund – $200,000 of the $700,000 is from Chorus and Nokia (formerly Alcatel-Lucent) for local Dunedin start-ups to dream big by putting forward business cases to secure some funding from the GigStart Fund.
· UpStart Dunedin have managed three rounds of funding to date awarding $147,000 to 8 recipients.
· The final round runs from 3 – 31 October with the final funds being awarded in November.
· Recipients to date include:
o Such Crowd - A crowd-sourcing platform for events that allows event planners to test demand before confirming events. The platform allows people to register interest and they are only charged for tickets if enough interest is generated.
o Petri Dish - Petri Dish is a shared office space at 8 Stafford Street Dunedin, developed for tech and creative media start-ups, small businesses and individuals. Members receive access to Gigabit UFB and a central data room allowing large amounts of data to be moved around the world at speed.
o ResponseAbility - Planned development of an app and support programme to help with on-site hazard identification and health and safety management.
o Learning with a Difference - Funding is being used to develop an animated learning programme to help children with dyslexia.
o Adventure Media Works - This is an exciting plan underway involving an online service for the photographic community.
o Blue Twist - Development of a cloud-based systems for the medical sector.
o Photo Toolbox Ltd - Development of a cloud-based digital asset management system.
o Bison Group Ltd - Cultivation of a cloud-based data management system for the logistics sector

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