Chair for Northpower Fibre appointed

Release date: 14 April 2011

Chair for Northpower Fibre appointed

Crown Fibre Holdings and Northpower today announced the appointment of a highly experienced chair to Whangarei Local Fibre Company (trading as Northpower Fibre), the Local Fibre Company building ultra fast broadband throughout Whangarei.

The appointment of Ms Jo Brosnahan, who is a professional director and chair of a number of organisations, marks significant progress in the development of Northpower Fibre and UFB in Whangarei. Ms Brosnahan has had extensive experience as Chair of Landcare Research and Leadership New Zealand; she is a former CEO of both Northland and Auckland Regional Councils

“We are pleased to have someone of Ms Brosnahan’s calibre as the chair of the Northpower Fibre. We look forward to her involvement,” says Simon Allen, Chair of Crown Fibre Holdings.

“Having served as the CEO of the Northland Regional Council for a number of years, Ms Brosnahan brings invaluable leadership skills and local knowledge to the role,” says Northpower Chair, Warren Moyes.

“Full scale deployment of UFB has now commenced, and we anticipate initial customer connections will come online by the end of Q2,” said Mr Moyes.

ENDS

Background follows.

Background on Crown Fibre Holdings and the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative:

* CFH has been established to manage the Crown's investment in ultra-fast broadband infrastructure over a ten year period to end 2019.

* In December 2010, the Government announced that it had accepted CFH’s recommendations to form the first two Local Fibre Companies, in partnership with Northpower for Whangarei and WEL Networks for the Central North Island.

Background on Northpower Fibre:

A contract was signed in December 2010 by Northpower Ltd and Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH) to form Northpower Fibre to roll out UFB for the Whangarei region.

Background on Northpower:

Northpower is a New Zealand-owned company with a reputation for excellence in multi-utility design, construction and maintenance services. The company has a significant electrical contracting business and delivers fibre reticulation services as well as owning a FTTP network in the Whangarei region. The group has nearly 1000 staff, a turnover of just over $200 million and a total asset value in excess of $300 million. Its move into fibre infrastructure is a natural progression which reinforces the strong connection Northpower has with a variety of customer and local community groups.

What is a Local Fibre Company?

An LFC is a joint venture between Crown Fibre Holdings on behalf of the Government and a private company to deploy, own and operate a fibre-to-the-premise network in one or more parts of New Zealand under the UFB initiative. It sells access to point to point dark fibre or Layer 1 Services, and lit fibre (containing electronics), known as Layer 2 Services.

Brief biography of Ms Jo Brosnahan:

* Chair Landcare Research Ltd

* Executive Chair Leadership NZ

* Former CEO, Auckland Regional Council

* Former CEO, Northland Regional Council

Northpower Fibre Board

* Jo Brosnahan, Chair

* Nicole Davies-Colley

* Mark Gatland

* Graham Mitchell

* Sean Wynne

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