Rolleston and Lincoln are NZ’s first fully fibred towns

26 October 2013

Rolleston and Lincoln are New Zealand’s first fully fibred towns

Fibre broadband network provider, Enable has launched its network across the entire Rolleston and Lincoln townships – making them the first towns in New Zealand where all businesses, schools and residents have access to fibre broadband services.

“This is an enormous opportunity for the people of Rolleston and Lincoln” said Enable CEO, Steve Fuller.

“Today – right now – these two communities have a technological advantage over most of New Zealand. They can connect to fibre broadband now and enjoy speeds that are up to 20 times faster than the average copper broadband connection. This means they will be able to do a whole lot more online in their businesses and enjoy rapidly growing sources of information and entertainment in their homes.”

Enable expects uptake of the new fibre broadband services in Rolleston and Lincoln to be high.

“Enable is absorbing the cost to install the fibre broadband connection from the street to all residential customers’ homes. When people realise that the on-going costs are generally the same or less than their current broadband and telephone, we expect a lot of them to switch to fibre,” said Mr Fuller.

Rolleston and Lincoln are both towns that are growing rapidly – which was reaffirmed in the 2013 Census results released on 15 October with Selwyn District named the fastest growing region in the country. It was this growth that prompted Enable to prioritise delivering fibre broadband to these towns.

“Rolleston and Lincoln were growing before the earthquakes, now there are literally thousands of new sections being established – and families moving into theses subdivisions are able to access our fibre broadband services immediately. In addition, we’ve rolled out our services to all established residential streets, schools and commercial buildings in both towns – about 5,000 properties in total,” said Mr Fuller.

Mr Fuller has also issued a challenge to Rolleston and Lincoln, “Access to fibre broadband on its own makes Rolleston and Lincoln very attractive towns to establish businesses and helps position the towns as great places to live. But it’s up to the local communities to decide to what extent they will take advantage of the opportunities fibre broadband provides.”

Selwyn District Mayor, Kelvin Coe has embraced this challenge in response, “Rolleston and Lincoln are fast growing and changing towns, with both communities currently defining what the towns will look like in the future.”

“Having world-class infrastructure available, such as Enable’s fibre broadband network, is vitally important to this future. These are diverse towns with Lincoln University, large agri-science businesses in Lincoln, large businesses in the Rolleston Izone, schools, a hospital, small businesses and thousands of families – and I am extremely confident all these groups will maximise the potential of fibre broadband for the betterment of the community.”

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