Fibre loop connection brings fast broadband

Hawke's Bay can make "a huge step up" with free ultra-fast broadband internet connections offered by UnisonFibre.
It has completed a 140km fibre loop through Hastings, Napier and Havelock North and has offered to connect organisations along the route for free.
It has partnered with 10 retail service providers (RSPs), three of them local companies: Airnet, Neocom and Wasp.
The other companies were FX Networks, Solarix, iTco, Safe NZ, Datacom, Modica and VIP.
UnisonFibre marketing and sales manager Wayne Baird said all RSPs provided a range of telecommunication services such as high-speed internet, phone and voice services, data storage and cloud services.
"We've been working closely with these RSPs and are now able to match businesses with the best fit RSP based on their telecommunication needs.
"This will all be done by the new website getonit.co.nz, which will automatically match them with one or more preferred providers.
"We will be doing a staged installation, starting with Hastings central and Onekawa. We urge all businesses to take up this offer now, regardless of when the installation will occur.
"Some local businesses, schools and health providers are already seeing a transformation in how they use technology.
"This is a great opportunity for Hawke's Bay business to catch up with the rest of the world and become more competitive.
'We expect to see huge interest in what we are offering and urge businesses to register their interest at getonit.co.nz."
On the website, Rod Drury, CEO of the NZX-listed multi-national cloud-based software accounting company Xero, said ultra-fast speeds enabled him to live in Hawke's Bay and do business with the world.
"On fibre, you are just a click away from doing business with anyone in New Zealand or overseas where distance is no longer a barrier, the opportunities are endless to growing your business".
Fibre connections were a boon for schools - students suffered bottlenecks when several classes attempted to go online at the same time with copper connections.
Hastings Boys' High School principal Rob Sturch said his school's fibre connection was a step forward and "part of the future".
Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce CEO Murray Douglas said fibre connections would make a real difference to Hawke's Bay businesses. "It is a huge step up and in an area where Hawke's Bay has been slow in the uptake."
He valued the fibre connections at several thousand dollars for some companies.
Mr Baird said that while the wholesale prices UnisonFibre was charging RSPs would enable them to offer competitive rates to consumers, the real advantage was the "higher quality connections" provided by fibre.
"There will be a time when copper will be irrelevant. I don't know when that will be but it will be switched off eventually," he said.
UnisonFibre planned breakfasts seminars to demonstrate the benefits of fibre in Napier on August 8, Hastings on August 9 and Rotorua on August 4.
Taupo and Rotorua businesses would also be offered free connections.