Eastland Group lays down a Gigatown challenge

Eastland Group lays down a Gigatown challenge – “we’ve still got a shot at this”

One of Gisborne’s largest and most innovative businesses has upped the ante for the Gigatown competition, signing all its staff up to the nationwide competition and encouraging other local businesses to do the same.

Eastland Group’s action follows hot on the heels of Gisborne District Council and Pultron Composites, who did exactly the same thing last week.

The company’s general manager business development, Gavin Murphy, says the impact of winning the Gigatown competition and receiving “internet at the speed of light” cannot be over-emphasised.

“If Gisborne wins Gigatown, our households and businesses will get internet access at the speed of one gigabit per second for uploads and downloads, at a cost of around $70 or $80 a month – if we wanted to pay for that now it’d cost more like $500 a month. We’ll also win a $200,000 innovation fund to enable our region to fully utilise the opportunity that Gigabit broadband service brings. This is a tangible opportunity for us to improve our local economy and the overall prosperity of our region.

“We’re challenging every business in Gisborne to sign their staff up. We need to work together to make this happen. Gisborne’s still got a real shot at getting into the top five and being a part of the final stage of the competition,” he added. On 31 September, all scores will be reset to zero and the five finalist towns will need to collect the most points before the close of the competition to become the winning Gigatown.

“To get into the top five we need about 2000 more people to register with Gigatown and complete the current quiz by the end of this month so that we can boost our points with the quizzes in August and September.”

Gigatown’s local project manager, Yvette Kinsella says she has an “army of volunteers” ready to assist with the quizzes.

Yvette says businesses wanting to take on the challenge can contact ExpressPR on 867-7444, or email: nicola@expresspr.co.nz

“Or, of course, you can simply go to gigatown.co.nz and register yourself online. Don’t forget to complete the quiz though – that’s where the chance for these extra points will come!”

ENDS

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