Porirua Gigatown Bid to Benefit Region

Wellington’s leaders are getting behind a bid for fast, affordable internet in Porirua that will offer benefits for the whole region.

Porirua is the only North Island town in the running to make the finals in the Chorus-led Gigatown competition. Winning Gigatown will enable Porirua and the region’s businesses and families to be better connected with one another and the rest of the world, says Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett.

“If Porirua comes on-stream with gigabit speeds this could open the door for very fast regional internet. With 50% of our people travelling to Wellington to work every day and 21% of the Porirua workforce coming from the Hutt, there would be huge benefits if people could work more from home.

“It would take cars off the roads and improve the environment, open up work-life balance opportunities, and could even lead to more people using public transport if hi-speed wireless was made available along the rail corridors. The sky’s the limit really.”

Mayor Leggett says UFB will create a closer, tight-knit community of internet specialists.

“This is attractive from a business perspective having a lot of people in a common area, better able to collaborate and move large amounts of information in real time between each other and out to the world.”

He says the economic advantages are great, with part of the winning package including $200,000 toward an incubator project for new start-up companies. “This will turn the city into a hot-bed of innovation; attracting high-tech companies offering more jobs and new careers. That’s going to help the whole region – not just Porirua.

Educational opportunities, especially for young people are there too.

“In Porirua we have proportionally the youngest population in New Zealand with 40% under the age of 25 and 25% under the age of 15. By empowering our young population with the prospect of greater and better online learning we can fuel the growth of the entire region with a digitally literate workforce.”

He welcomes the support of Wellington Mayor Celia Wade Brown, Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace, Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy, Kapiti Mayor Ross Church and Greater Wellington Regional Council Chairperson Fran Wilde.

“Winning the Chorus Gigatown competition will transform our region’s economy and the lives of our families,” says Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett.

Hear directly from a selection of different businesses on how they see the importance of winning Gigatown in a series of videos http://youtu.be/Ri4YHz1XKlY.

How the region can help:
Join up as a Porirua supporter at www.gigatown.co.nz
Post comments on the official Facebook page www.facebook.com/Gigaporirua and Twitter that include the hashtag #Gigatownporirua
Post photos to Instagram and Flickr using with #Gigatownporirua in the caption
Post video clips to YouTube using #Gigatownporirua in the title

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