Just received:

 

Fibre Broadband Provider, MyRepublic has welcomed the announcement that gig technology will be available to consumers in Whangarei, Hamilton, Christchurch and seven regional centres from October this year.

 

MyRepublic MD, Vaughan Baker says the announcement is a direct result of the company working with infrastructure providers encouraging them to introduce Gigabit Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) technology more widely throughout New Zealand increasing business productivity and boosting the economy, just as we’ve seen in Singapore through our Gig efforts there.

 

In an announcement this morning (editors, Friday 19 August), Enable, Northpower Fibre and Ultrafast Fibre (UFF) advised that from Saturday 1 October a 1G/500Mbps service would be available for selected consumers.

 

Vaughan Baker says MyRepublic’s Singapore and New Zealand operations mean that MyRepublic has the most consumer gig customers in Asia Pacific. He wants to leverage MyRepublic’s experience by rolling out gig technology in New Zealand.

 

“We want local businesses and consumers to be able to access UFB and particularly gig services to ensure more Kiwis can take advantage of the digital economy. We’re a creative nation and access to world leading UFB will allow more people to join the revolution – which ultimately will mean more jobs and economic growth. And we haven’t even touched on the entertainment benefits for people gaming and streaming.”

 

Feenix Communications has been appointed as an additional provider to support MyRepublic’s rollout to consumers and to deliver a purpose-built network to support the gig over the UFB network. Feenix CEO, David Heald says “The company is utilising the latest networking technology from Nokia to provide the core backhaul network fabric required to support the gig experience.” 

 

Nokia Oceania Managing Director Ray Owen said “Nokia is a strong believer in the ability of ultra-broadband to enable innovation and support future growth in the New Zealand economy. MyRepublic and Feenix Communications are at the forefront of the market, delivering gigabit services for more New Zealanders, and we’re delighted to support their work.

 

Baker says MyRepublic aims to have as many Kiwis as possible on a gig connection and therefore it will automatically upgrade its 200Mbps customers in Whangarei, Hamilton, Christchurch to a 1000Mbps gig plan for no additional cost as soon the gig is made available in October.

 

Additionally new customers who sign up to MyRepublic’s 200Mbps service in those centres ahead of October will be upgraded at no charge as soon as it is live.  

 

MyRepublic led the way when Dunedin became New Zealand’s first gig enabled city by automatically upgrading all its customers to gig connections.

 

“MyRepublic puts customers first. Everyone’s busy and customers shouldn’t have to contact their ISP and negotiate a new contract or beg to be upgraded to the gig.”

 

“UFB technology is a nationally owned resource and MyRepublic wants it shared with as many businesses and individuals as possible to ensure everyone in New Zealand benefits from this fantastic national infrastructure,” Baker says.