Dunedin was today announced as the winner of Chorus’ Gigatown competition, edging out 49 other towns for the chance to become the first in New Zealand to get access to gigabit speed fibre internet. This means that in addition to having the world's steepest residential street, Dunedin will also have New Zealand’s fastest internet: ten times the speed of the fastest fibre broadband currently available.




The competition showed just how popular fast internet is among Kiwis. In fact, if the 132,780 people who signed up to support Gigatown all lived in one place, it would be New Zealand’s 4th largest city, bigger than Hamilton.

Faster internet delivers benefits well beyond better surfing, smoother video and less buffering. It helps make education more fun, interactive and engaging. Students can look forward to taking online classes, connecting with students across the globe or tuning in live to lectures.

Faster internet is also set to become a driving force behind the medical and healthcare applications of the future. Being able to see a doctor remotely, for example, can reduce the need for hospital visits for children with serious health conditions, the elderly and patients with mobility challenges.

And it’s great for small business in New Zealand, helping them create virtual shopfronts to deliver Kiwi products to customers locally - and to export to the world.

It’s great to see people around the country making the most the net. For the lucky residents of Dunedin in particular, it looks like the benefits of faster internet and being connected are set to deliver. Giga time.

Posted by Ross Young, Public Policy Manager, New Zealand