Hawke’s Bay ISP Airnet has undergone a major business transformation to allow the company to take full advantage of recent shifts in the telecommunications landscape.

Shareholder changes mean the company is now 100% owned by Hawke’s Bay investors and Airnet staff, with the recapitalisation allowing the company to hire more employees to ‘offer a new level of competition in the Hawke’s Bay telco and internet market’.

Hamish White, Airnet’s newly appointed CEO, says regulatory changes aimed at boosting competition, the de-merger of Telecom, and progress towards the UFB network have all created opportunities for regional ISPs.

Airnet has already started reaping the benefits, recently becoming the first telco in the country to sign a retail service provider agreement with Chorus.

"We have access to a range of broadband networks delivered over different technologies – fibre-optic cable, phoneline-based DSL and wireless communications – and we are in the unique position of having already negotiated wholesale contracts with two of the region’s fibre-optic network companies, Chorus and Unison Fibre,” White says.

"We’re delighted to be the first telco to get a retail agreement with Chorus signed off. We believe regionally-based telecommunications companies like ours are the way forward because they are more in touch with the needs of their communities, and more willing to commit the resources needed to maximise the benefits available through technology.”

Regional companies also help keep jobs local, White adds – Airnet expects to grow staff numbers to around 50, with a further 200 positions to be supported in the area through supply agreements and other contracts.

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