Communications Minister Amy Adams says Rolleston, in her electorate of Selwyn, is leading the pack in Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) uptake, at 52 percent of households and businesses being connected.
“The latest data from local fibre company, Enable, shows the Rolleston community is one of UFB’s greatest supporters,” Adams says.
“Although UFB is the standard in new subdivisions, the rate of penetration in the township’s older suburbs is just as high.”
Rolleston, 15km south-west of Christchurch, was dubbed the “town of the future” by planners positioning it as a satellite town in the 1970’s.
Fast forward to the present day and the area now stands as one of the country’s fastest growing centres with growth accelerating to now having a population in excess of 13,000.
“It’s a fitting accolade that New Zealand’s town of the future should be leading Ultra-Fast Broadband adoption,” Adams adds.
“Fifty-two percent uptake is an amazing achievement when compared to an already high national average penetration of 20 percent. There are now over 200,000 UFB connections nationwide and this number is increasing rapidly.”
Adams says the Government’s partner Enable says nearly a third of all businesses in Rolleston have connected to UFB, both in the large new ‘IZONE’ industrial area and established main street companies.
“The businesses of Rolleston are typical of those throughout New Zealand and they’re seeing the very real benefits of faster and more reliable broadband,” Adams adds.
“UFB is quickly becoming highly sought after. In the property market, we’re seeing more and more real estate advertising listing UFB as a desirable feature, and it’s not hard to see why.”
At present, the UFB build is now complete in 16 towns and cities, with Adams reporting that the first stage of the initiative will enable at least 75 percent of New Zealanders to access fibre to the premise by 2019, with a second phase expanding reach by at least a further five percent.