Chorus : UFB build completed in Rotorua, broadband consumption soaring

Published 17/06/2016

Chorus has today announced it has finished building its Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network in Rotorua, meaning nearly 26,000 households, businesses, schools and health facilities now have access to fibre.

Chorus today joined Communications Minister Amy Adams and Rotorua MP Todd McClay for an event at Rotorua Canopy Tours, which is already benefiting from UFB, to celebrate the completion of the project in Rotorua.

'UFB has the potential to transform New Zealand's economy, our communities, and the way we connect to the rest of the world, so we're really looking forward to seeing how the Rotorua community can take advantage of having world-class connectivity right on their door step,' said Chorus Executive member Vanessa Oakley.

In Rotorua, broadband consumption has soared since the start of last year, with the average household using 112GB last month on the Chorus network.

Nationally, the average New Zealand home used about 100GB of broadband data last month, more than double the amount used at the start of 2015, an increase driven by the surge in demand for streaming services such as Netflix.

Fibre users in Rotorua are consuming even more broadband, with the average household using 178GB last month.

There are changing consumer needs when it comes to broadband, both for households and businesses and the UFB initiative has been an integral part of meeting this change.

'People have higher expectations of broadband performance as our usage behaviour changes and the internet becomes integral to every aspect of life.

'Typically, homes now have several connected devices at any one time, so we are all using far more data and many of us are demanding faster and more reliable broadband speeds to stream or download high definition TV and video.

'More and more consumers also want the freedom of unlimited plans. These plans are competitively priced and take away the fear of chewing through a data allowance and being charged extra.'

The impact on businesses and the economy has also started to gain a momentum that can be felt in many communities, including Rotorua.

Rotorua Canopy Tours is one such business benefiting from UFB. As part of its service, the company takes photos of customers while they are on a zipline. The photos are then uploaded to the cloud and customers are able to download them.

'We are a high-end business so the photos we offer clients are a value add, but before UFB it could take about four hours to upload 200 photos,' said owner James Fitzgerald.

'While photos were uploading we couldn't take reservations at the same time, and staff couldn't work on their laptops.

'Now with UFB it takes 10 minutes to upload 1000 photos which means customers get their photos quickly and are able to send them out on social media while the adrenaline is still pumping, and that creates a whole load of marketing for us. If we didn't have UFB we simply couldn't do it.'

ENDS

For further information:

Nathan Beaumont

Stakeholder Communications Manager

Mobile: 021 243 8412

Email: nathan.beaumont@chorus.co.nz