The Government has officially announced the completion of the UFB rollout across Hamilton, marking the biggest area completed so far in the Ultra Fast Broadband programme.
The rollout has taken close to five years with a price tag that exceeds $85 million.
"Hamilton is the sixteenth urban area to have their UFB built completed, and now more than 63,000 homes, schools, medical centres and businesses are able to connect," Adam's explains.
"The completed rollout will be welcomed by those living in Hamilton. Broadband is vital to New Zealanders, and connects us to one another and new markets across the world," she says.
"This also marks Ultra-Fast Fibre's final candidate area to be completed, so more than 183,000 end users in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki can now connect to UFB," says Adams.
"I'd like to congratulate UFF on the completion of their six candidate areas, six months ahead of schedule and on budget," she adds.
Earlier this week the Waikato Chamber of Commerce encouraged Hamilton businesses to make the most out the UFB network.
"Having UFB available now in Hamilton means our business community has access to the country's best digital infrastructure," William Durning, chief executive, said at the time. New Zealand's UFB build is 60% complete, and over 875,000 New Zealanders are now able to connect to the network. At a glance:
- More than 63,000 homes, schools, medical centres and businesses can now connect to UFB
- All 56 schools in the Hamilton area can connect through UFB and the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) programmes, and nearly all have taken up a service
- UFB uptake in Hamilton has reached 19.9%
- Sixteenth urban area and the largest area to be completed
List of 16 completed UFB towns:
Whangarei, Te Awamutu, Oamaru, Cambridge, Tokoroa, Hawera, Ashburton, Blenheim, Whanganui, Taupō, Timaru, Greymouth, Masterton, New Plymouth, Tauranga and as of today Hamilton, are fully fibred.
