Business

Trans-Tasman cable could be next step to higher data caps

April 8th, 2013

The announcement of a second high-speed, Trans-Tasman telecommunications cable could be another positive step towards higher data caps, says Telecommunications Users Association Chief Executive Paul Brislen. And he wants to see the cable’s owners – Telecom, Vodafone and Telstra – provide wholesale access at a competitive price to maximise the benefits to customers. In mid-February the three big telcos announced …

UFB key driver for Tauranga SME

March 14th, 2013

When Kathryn Overall made the decision to move her marketing consultancy business into Tauranga’s new Ignition “co working space”, the availability of Ultra-Fast Broadband was one of the key drivers. Kathryn had previously been running her company, Engage Communications, from her family farm near the pretty Bay of Plenty seaside village of Maketu. The decision to leave the countryside for …

UFB: Beating the panelbeater blues

February 19th, 2013

Question 1: What type of business was the first to be connected to Ultra-Fast Broadband on the Chorus network? Was it: a) A graphic design company b) A panelbeater c) A software developer The answer (b: a panelbeater) might surprise many people. Auckland-based Brian Holgate Panelbeaters was the first Chorus UFB business customer, signing up for a 30Mbps download/10Mbps upload …

UFB brings record year for Jeff Oliver Print

February 5th, 2013

2012 was a great year for Jeff Oliver Print. Turnover for the Whangarei-based printing company was up about 40% on 2011. And despite hard times in the industry as a whole, the company did more business last year than at any time in its 26-year history. Managing Director Dean Oliver, son of the original founder, says getting Ultra-Fast Broadband installed …

Teleworking: UFB and the one-minute commute

December 12th, 2012

They call it the one-minute commute. The time it takes to get from the kitchen to your computer in the home office, stopping at the coffee machine along the way. It’s a journey Julie Kidd, Senior Communications Executive at law firm Kensington Swan, takes once or twice a week, on her “teleworking” days. Once the kids are out of the …

UFB: making Whangarei a lifestyle choice

November 26th, 2012

Whangarei graphic designer Matt Lewis wouldn’t live anywhere else. “Northland: it’s the place of 100 beaches, 100 waterfalls, and the speediest broadband in the country,” he says. Matt’s business, Different Limited, got Ultra-Fast Broadband in 2011 and since then, productivity is up 30%, he says. The biggest gains have come from the time saved from dramatically increased upload speeds. The …

Getting ready for UFB in Auckland

November 12th, 2012

The children on the walking school bus were excited. And it wasn’t just the street full of diggers, trucks, pneumatic drills and men in fluorescent jackets. No, fast internet was coming to their street – and that meant cooler games, faster downloads and maybe movies and music on the computer. The smallest five-year-old could relate to Ultra-Fast Broadband. This is …

Turning the tables

October 26th, 2012

DJ-ing ain’t what it used to be – technology has done amazing things with the sound you can produce from a DJ booth. No surprise there. What is more of a shock is that even your most tech-savvy 2012 DJ is probably performing with a set-up that looks like it came from the 1980s. But there’s a difference: instead of …

UFB brings video conferencing boom

October 1st, 2012

Ultra-Fast Broadband has been good for business for New Zealand video conferencing company Asnet Technologies. It was 12 years ago that the company first started operating, but since fibre came to Christchurch four years ago growth has been around 20% per year, says the company’s Head Sales Account Manager, Richard Bishop. “Fibre is a lot more reliable, there’s a lot …

Brian Holgate Panelbeaters

September 20th, 2012

Brian Holgate Panelbeaters