The first phase of the Government's Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) is now complete, benefiting 300,000 homes and businesses, says Communications Minister Amy Adams.
"Under the programme, rural communities around New Zealand have significantly improved broadband, thanks to the Government's $300 million investment into RBI. We've seen a considerable improvement in access, reliability and speeds across New Zealand," says Ms Adams.
"Prior to our RBI build, only 20 per cent of rural lines were capable of speeds around 5Mbps. RBI phase one increases this to 90 per cent of rural New Zealand households and businesses, and speeds are in fact well in excess of 5Mbps.
"Before the project, our rural communities were grappling with poor speeds, little better than dial up - but are now enjoying speeds around 100 times faster.
"Prior to the project, 30 of our rural schools had fibre - now 1034 do."