Ultrafast Fibre has reported that the company’s ultra fast broadband (UFB) network continued to operate as designed, despite the infrastructure being completely submerged in some areas during the recent floods in Whanganui.
CEO William Hamilton says Ultrafast Fibre carried out spot testing of the network following the state of emergency, and all assessments have shown it to be very resilient.
“In some places the fibre network was completely submerged by the flood waters with network infrastructure such as roadside cabinets and pits heavily covered by silt,” he says.
“It is great to know that the network is able to continue operating as normal, even throughout an event like that in Whanganui.
“During the peak of the flooding and shortly after, there were some service failures. However, these cases were due to non-UFB network issues such as power failures.”
Hamilton says Ultrafast Fibre and Transfield Services immediately commenced a clean-up programme, once the flood waters had receded and the authorities opened access to the affected areas.
This included washing down and removing silt from roadside cabinets, and replacing some damaged infrastructure with scoping and installations continuing in Whanganui.
“We will continue to support the Council and the people of Whanganui during the clean-up, and ensure they have access to ultra fast broadband,” Hamilton adds.
“This has had a huge impact on homes and business and we are keen to help get the region back up and running again.”