Northpower collects global fibre award

Northpower collects global fibre award

Northpower has been labelled an international stand-out in ultra-fast broadband fibre networks.

The company last week edged out companies from around the world in being presented with a major broadband accolade - the 2013 Calix Innovation Award for ‘Fibre Transformation’ - at a ceremony in Las Vegas, USA.

In summarising the rationale for selecting Northpower, Andy Lockhart – Calix Senior Vice President of International Sales and Marketing - labelled the company a leader in the fibre field internationally.

“With its history as a utility company, Northpower Fibre is the perfect embodiment of a Calix Innovation Award winner, a service provider that has leveraged the Calix Unified Access portfolio to transform both their business and the connectivity of their local community,” said Mr Lockhart.

“We would like to congratulate Northpower Fibre on their Innovation Award and impressive UFB fibre build. We are looking forward to working with them as they continue to expand the reach of broadband in New Zealand.”

Northpower Fibre Layer 2 Architect and Engineer Deepak Veerasamy and Northpower Public Affairs Manager Steve Macmillan attended the awards ceremony, which doubled as Calix’s annual broadband technology conference. More than 1700 people attended.

“The conference was superb and the level of interest from countries around the world in the Northpower Fibre model and just how we implemented our build in a very cost-effective manner utilising, in part, our existing assets to the benefit of our local community was immense,” said Mr Macmillan.

“There was a lot of discussion about how our build model can be transferred into other countries – Ireland for example – and we will be pursuing these opportunities.

“Calix has been a key technology partner on the UFB build for more than a year, providing the majority of the electronic component of our Whangarei fibre network and has latterly played a significant part in our success and the smooth deployment of our build.”

Northpower CEO Mark Gatland said the recognition is immensely pleasing and is testimony to the technical capability of Northpower’s fibre team.

“I guess our technical capability is our best-kept secret and it has landed us on the international stage,” said Mr Gatland.

“We tend to take our skill for granted, so to receive this level of recognition is outstanding. I want to thank our entire fibre team because what they have demonstrated is outstanding innovation, technical capability, commitment and fortitude.”

Mr Gatland said with the launch of Northpower Fibre’s network in Whangarei’s CBD this week, he is hoping local businesses quickly embrace the advantages of fibre, given they can now access exceptional download speeds up to 100Mbps and upload speeds up to 50Mbps.

Northpower Fibre’s UFB network is now 90% complete and more than 17,000 people can connect to some of New Zealand’s fastest broadband speeds. More than 1000 people are already connected to the network and Northpower has the highest uptake rate of any Local Fibre Company in New Zealand.

ENDS

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