Ultrafast Fibre reaches milestone - fibre rollout to schools

21 March 2012

Ultrafast Fibre reaches milestone in fibre rollout to schools

Ultrafast Fibre Ltd announced today that its ultrafast broadband network is on track to have fibre passing 32 schools by the end of June in the cities of Hamilton, Wanganui, Tauranga and New Plymouth.

23 schools will be passed in the second deployment, between February and June 2012, in the cities of Hamilton, Wanganui, Tauranga and New Plymouth.

These are in addition to the 9 that were passed between July 2011 and January 2012 in the urban areas of Hamilton, Tauranga and Wanganui.

Ultrafast Fibre’s announcement of its school deployment follows on from other local fibre company’s recent announcements about other school rollout programmes across the country.

CEO of Ultrafast Fibre Ltd, Maxine Elliott, says access to high-speed Internet is expected to change the way teachers teach and children learn.

“Having access to ultrafast broadband means all the teaching resource that the Internet provides is instantly available. Tapping into the power of ultrafast broadband is expected to completely transform the classroom learning experience.

“For instance, just some of the benefits include: children being able to move through literacy programmes more quickly; multiple children being able to access digital learning objects at the same time; teachers having the ability to tailor their lessons to the specific needs of individual students; and school administration systems becoming faster and more efficient.

“Plus, parents will get the opportunity to have a closer relationship when it comes to understanding their child’s learning process. For instance, a child will be able to upload a video of their assembly speech for parents to watch - anywhere, anytime,” explains Ms Elliott.

The fibre network being built by Ultrafast Fibre is part of a new, 3000-kilometre fibre network that will enable schools, hospitals, businesses and individuals throughout the Central North Island to connect to a new generation of ultrafast broadband in their communities.

Ultrafast Fibre network build services the regions of Hamilton, Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Tauranga, Tokoroa, New Plymouth, Hawera and Wanganui. Construction of the Ultrafast Fibre network began in 2011 and will be completed in 2016.

Ms Elliott says inquiries from schools with questions about connecting to the Ultrafast Fibre network are high.

“We’re fielding questions from many principals and teachers who are anxious to get the service as soon as possible. Already we know of two schools that have invested in the infrastructure they need in-house so they can connect as quickly as possible once the network is available,” she says.

Ultrafast Fibre will have passed the following schools by June 30 2012:

First stage deployment (July 2011 to January 2012)

Hamilton West School
Wanganui City College
Wanganui Collegiate School
St Anthony’s School, Wanganui
St Dominic’s College Wanganui
Gate Pa School, Tauranga
Tauranga School
Tauranga Boys College
Tauranga Girls College

Second stage deployment (February 2012 to June 2012):

ENDS

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