Telecom and Northpower Fibre partner to deliver Whanarei UFB

MEDIA RELEASE
12 June 2012

Telecom and Northpower Fibre partner to deliver UFB services to Whangarei

Telecom announced today it has signed a wholesale services agreement with Northpower Fibre to deliver fibre-based services to the Whangarei region.

The agreement will enable Telecom and Gen-i to help Whangarei homes and businesses realise the full benefits of ultrafast broadband and create economic value for Northland.

Northpower Fibre is the Government’s partner responsible for delivering a fibre network in Whangarei, as part of the national Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative.

Darren Mason, Northpower Fibre CEO, said the UFB initiative is a significant project for Whangarei and is a major opportunity for Northland to lead from the front as the first region in New Zealand to embrace the opportunities that ultrafast broadband brings.

"An open access fibre network like ours is a huge enabler and will be a great tool for businesses, schools, hospitals and individuals - providing faster data transfer, ease of video conferencing, a greater array of services and improved efficiencies,” said Mason. “Fibre is the future and will be invaluable for the local economy. Our partnership with Retail Service Providers such as Telecom/Gen-i allows us to take advantage of this opportunity.”

Acting Telecom CEO Chris Quin said that Telecom and Gen-i are looking forward to working closely with Northpower Fibre to deliver great outcomes to businesses in Northland.

“Whangarei is at the centre of economic activity in Northland. Our partnership with Northpower Fibre will ensure that we continue to deliver on the objectives of the Government’s UFB investment,” said Quin.

“UFB is a crucial element of the overall network that will enable Whangarei businesses and government agencies to boost productivity, increase efficiencies, reduce costs and be more flexible. It powers solutions such as video conferencing, online collaboration tools and cloud computing,” added Quin.

“These technologies allow organisations to adopt new ways of working and support a more mobile and flexible workforce, creating more employment opportunities, which is essential for the economic development of Northland.”

“This can only happen if we have strong partnerships with local fibre companies such as Northpower Fibre.”

Quin said that Telecom is working closely with Northpower Fibre to integrate its new input products into Telecom’s national, end-to-end fibre-based network

Telecom is looking forward to working with Northpower Fibre to trial bit-stream services for residential customers.

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About Northpower Fibre
The Whangarei Local Fibre Company Ltd - Northpower Fibre – was one of the first companies contracted by the Crown, in late 2010, to undertake an Ultra-Fast Broadband fibre network build. By June 2014, Northpower Fibre will have taken fibre past the doors of almost 20,000 premises in and around Whangarei township.

About Gen-i
Gen-i is at the forefront of helping customers take advantage of the convergence of technology and telecommunications, and the new opportunities this makes possible. Gen-i works alongside its 2,700 corporate, government and business customers to deliver seamless hosted and integrated ICT solutions. A member of the Telecom New Zealand Group, Gen-i achieves this with the support of 2,700 highly skilled people in 19 locations across New Zealand and Australia. For more information on Gen-i, visit www.gen-i.co.nz

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