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Home / Waikato News

Watch NZH Local Focus: Frustration growing ultra-fast in Matamata-Piako

By by Hunter Calder
NZ Herald·
12 Dec, 2016 11:39 PM3 mins to read

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There's no more "waiting for screens to load" at Diprose Miller in Te Aroha, they're now connected to ultra fast broadband.

But it came at a cost of $72,000 after the accounting firm paired with Geometrix Land Specialists to get the cables connected.

Diprose Miller Director Nigel McWilliam says they were sick of the uncertainty, waiting for the Government to make a decision on whether Te Aroha would be getting fast internet or not, so they put their own cable in.

"We bit the bullet we couldn't wait any longer," Mr McWilliam says.

But the internet, or lack of thereof, is an issue repeated across the Matamata-Piako District. In 2014 the government named 35 rural towns that were strong contenders for ultra fast broadband but many of the towns including Te Aroha, Morrinsville and Matamata have been left in the lurch, unsure when they'll be connected.

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Nigel McWilliam also chairs the Morrinsville Chamber of Commerce and says fast internet access is vital to keep businesses alive in the region.

"The UFB to us is like the railway was in the 1800's, it's essential infrastructure for us to continue to grow."

He's not the only one fed up with the unreliable internet. Piako Group salesman, MIke Kitching works in Morrinsville and says it's frustrating when he's trying to work online.

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"It slows our work down, work I could be doing in less than a minute, can be two three minutes. And it just accumulates through the day, it's the snowball effect basically."

Waikato MP, Lindsay Tisch says he understands businesses frustrations but says he's done all he can to lobby Communications Minister Amy Adams.

"It's taxpayers money. There's always going to be a demand for taxpayer money, where you put that taxpayer money and where are going to be those priorities."

He say's there is no timeframe on the rollout of fibre for the district and if fast internet is too important for business who can't wait for the rollout, there's nothing stopping them from investing themselves.

But endless timeframes and uncertainty isn't good enough for Piako Group's Chief Financial Officer Jacqui Gray who says she needs more certainty for when Morrinsville will get fibre.

She says it's not worth paying for private fibre, if they are going to be connected when the government get around to it.

Mr McWilliam says their needs to be a conclusion to the ongoing negotiations "and if they [the government] are serious about closing them at all"

He says the Government should make a final decision by March 2017.

Local Focus made repeated attempts to find out when the Communications Minister will be making a decision on the Ultra Fast Broadband in regional Waikato, but her office didn't respond.

MP Lindsay Tisch says Amy Adams has told him that the negotiations are "progressing well" and are "vital to ensure that the crown negotiates the best possible result to ensure fibre is rolled out within funding available."

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He anticipates Amy Adams will announce which towns will be covered soon.

But for the people of Matamata-Piako, they'll just have to keep waiting, or invest in their own UFB.

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