Rural broadband up 162pc in region

The region's rural broadband connection numbers have jumped.

Hawke's Bay rural broadband connection numbers have jumped by 162 per cent as the Government's "Rural Broadband Initiative" comes to an end.

Chorus upgraded 1200 broadband roadside cabinets across the country as part of the initiative, which wrapped up last week, improving the broadband access for an estimated 110,000 homes and businesses.

The total number of national rural connections has grown 73 per cent, according to figures from Chorus.

There is no question that access to better broadband makes a significant difference to the lives of rural New Zealanders.

Mark Ratcliffe, Chorus CEO

Hawke's Bay connection numbers rose from 743 to 1950.

The Hastings district had the biggest jump in cabinet upgrades, with 34, while Central Hawke's Bay and Wairoa districts both had five.

"There is no question that access to better broadband makes a significant difference to the lives of rural New Zealanders, and the RBI initiative shows how passionate Chorus is about improving rural connectivity," said Chorus CEO Mark Ratcliffe.

"There are changing consumer needs when it comes to broadband, both for households and businesses, and the RBI has been an integral part of meeting this change in Hawke's Bay."

A spokesman for Vodafone said the company, in partnership with the Government and Chorus, had built seven new cell sites in the Gisborne/Hawke's Bay area, providing "improved mobile coverage and high-speed wireless broadband to more than 3000 rural households and businesses".

In addition to the new cell sites, the region had already received 21 of 24 planned RBI upgrades. The final three cell sites at Ashcott, Waimarama and Nuhaka are on track to have their technology upgraded within the next three months.

Northland was the region that had the greatest number of cabinets upgraded, with 210 being upgraded.

After the upgrades were completed, Northland had the second highest number of rural broadband connections of 14,870, after Auckland region, which has 16,682.

Nelson had the greatest growth in broadband connections after 29 cabinets were upgraded and 260 connections, a growth of 348 per cent.

The average connection speed for rural New Zealand is currently 13.8 Mbps, an increase of 148 per cent from 5.6 Mbps before the RBI.

Otago region had the fastest average connection speed of 16.5 Mbps, up from 5.9 Mbps before the initiative.

Mr Ratcliffe said people had higher expectations of broadband performance.

"Typically, homes now have several connected devices at any one time, so we are all using far more data and many of us are demanding faster and more reliable broadband speeds to stream or download high-definition TV and video.

"The impact on rural businesses and the economy has also started to gain a momentum that can be felt in many communities, with the availability of faster broadband meaning the emergence of new businesses which could never have been contemplated just a few years ago."

Residents who live within about 1km of their cabinet should now be able to access a VDSL broadband service with speeds in excess of 50Mbps, Mr Ratcliffe said.

- NZ Herald