Chorus : UFB build completed in Whakatane

Published 23/09/2016

Chorus has today announced it has finished building its Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network in Whakatane, meaning about 7000 households, businesses, schools and health facilities now have access to fibre.

Chorus today joined the Government, council and local business representatives for an event at White Island Tours, which is already benefiting from UFB, to celebrate the completion of the project. To highlight how White Island Tours is benefitting from UFB, Chorus has today also released a video case study (link below).

'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 Whakatane community can take advantage of having world-class connectivity right on their door step,' said Chorus Executive member Ian Bonnar.

'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.'

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

White Island Tours is one such business benefiting from UFB. Marketing Manager Patrick O'Sullivan says fast, reliable internet is increasingly important for selling White Island Tours to potential customers.

As well as the tour operation, the company also has a 28-unit motel, a café and a gift shop.

'Guests can now communicate seamlessly with family and friends via Facebook, Skype, or Facetime, and they can send photos and video.'

The newer motel units all have smart TVs in them too, and in the future customers will be able to use the screens for video-on-demand services such as Netflix, social media, video chat and browsing the web.

'The Wi-Fi extends to the café, and we encourage our customers to stop in after visiting the volcano to buy a coffee and a snack, share their photos and video online, and - hopefully - post a positive review on a travel website like TripAdvisor.'

When White Island Tours opened nine new motel units recently, it did not put phones in any of them. The company knew virtually all their customers had smartphones, so offering them free, fast, unlimited Wi-Fi internet access was far more useful than giving them the means to make landline phone calls.

'Moving to Ultra-Fast Broadband has revolutionised how we run the business, too. In the past, there was a server on the premises, and every night staff would back up the day's data onto magnetic tape and trundle it through the building to be stored in a fireproof box at the back. Now everything is in the cloud.'

Cloud storage has also given the company peace of mind that the business could get back up and running quickly in the event of an earthquake or flood.

ENDS

Media contact:
Nathan Beaumont
Stakeholder Communications Manager
021 243 8412

Note to editors:

To highlight how White Island Tours is benefitting from UFB, Chorus has produced a video case study. It can watched and also downloaded here