Date :05 March 2012 | Source :Chorus

MEDIA RELEASE

Every day more and more students throughout the country get access to a new fibre optic network, as Chorus continues to make great progress in delivering its part of the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) and Rural Broadband Initiatives (RBI). Today, Chorus confirms the list of 690 schools that will get fibre during the second year of roll out.

Chorus CEO Mark Ratcliffe said that while it’s a great privilege to be part of building New Zealand’s new fibre network and contributing to the future growth of the country, he was particularly pleased that both initiatives prioritise fibre to the school.

“I’ve seen first hand the difference that fibre technology makes in the way students experience the internet,” said Ratcliffe.  “About six months ago we connected the first three rural schools to RBI fibre and it was delightful to see the expression on the faces of students in Henderson Valley School as they connected with Omaio and Granity School students for a joint online astronomy lesson.”

“It’s a delight to think that by 2015 when Chorus completes fibre delivery to schools under RBI and UFB, most schools in the country will be able to access the new fibre network and have the opportunity to significantly change the way students learn and access information.”

Ratcliffe also said that if Chorus’ build programme continues to gain the momentum they expect, the aim is to get fibre to the vast majority of schools by June 2014.

Chorus is a cornerstone Crown partner in building a fibre future for New Zealand, aiming to deliver fibre to about 500 UFB schools and 190 RBI schools between July 2012 and June 2013.  This means Chorus will have delivered fibre to more than 1,400 schools by June 2013 since starting work around mid last year.

As part of its RBI promise, Chorus will deploy around 3,100km of new fibre optic cable to connect 93 percent of rural schools by the end of 2015.  It will also install or upgrade 1,000 fibre-fed cabinets to enable 5Mbps broadband or faster to about 57 per cent of rural customers.

As a UFB partner, Chorus will extend the reach of its existing 29,000km fibre network to deploy UFB past more than 830,000 urban homes, businesses, schools, hospitals and medical facilities throughout New Zealand by the end of 2019.  Chorus is currently hard at work with a range of retail service providers to assist them in developing phone and internet services that can run over fibre, so that residents may connect to a service using the UFB network later this year.

A full list of schools is available on the Chorus website.

http://www.chorus.co.nz/ultrafast-broadband

http://www.chorus.co.nz/rural-broadband

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:

Melanie Marshall

027 452 6231

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