More than half of Whangārei and Kaipara homes and businesses connected to UFB

Northpower started installing ultra-fast broadband to Whangārei in 2014 and has now connected 12,500 homes and businesses. Photo / File

More than half of homes and businesses in Whangārei and Kaipara are now connected to Northpower's ultra-fast broadband network, with Ruakākā the latest town to be fully connected.

Northpower Fibre said Northlanders can't connect quickly enough to it's fast expanding ultra-fast broadband (UFB) network, with up to 400 people lining up to connect every month.

There are now over 14,000 people connected to the Northpower Fibre network – 12,500 of those in Whangārei – giving an impressive uptake figure of over 50 per cent. A further 10,000 people are still able to connect in Whangārei.

Northpower Fibre has just completed livening the final build stage of the Ruakākā UFB network, with all of the 1370 homes and businesses in the town now able to connect to the fastest broadband in Northland.

Ruakākā is the latest Whangārei town to get ultra-fast broadband.

Northpower Fibre chief executive Darren Mason said the company is continuing to accelerate the expansion of its UFB network in 12 towns across Kaipara and Whangārei.

"Our crews completed stage one of Ruakākā three months early and the final stage six months ahead of schedule so they are doing a great job.

"We are all working really hard to bring world class fibre broadband to our regional towns much quicker than planned. Our aim is to be able to ensure that our towns can connect in the shortest possible timeframe which will allow residents and business to get online faster.

"One thing I would urge sports fans to consider if they haven't already, is that they go to northpower.com/fibre and see if they are able to connect. You will want to be connected to fibre for the best [and uninterrupted] streaming experience of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, so I would encourage anyone to quickly contact their preferred retail service provider or register to connect at northpower.com/fibre/register-your-interest."

However, Mason said that with customer demand to join the Northpower Fibre network so high, people may experience some delays if they wait to get their connection requests in.

"As always, we will do our best to connect as quickly as possible but we do ask that people be patient. So get your orders in early."

Mason says Mangawhai Village and the remaining part of the Dargaville township will be the next two townships connected to the UFB network.

When Mangawhai Village is built, a further 556 people will be able to connect to the UFB network. Mangawhai Village will be released in two stages, the first stage will be in mid-April and the second stage a month later.

When the three build stages in Dargaville East are complete on May 13, June 4 and July 8, a further 1090 people will be able to connect to UFB. The Mangawhai Heads area is also getting UFB with the first part being ready by the end of the year, providing fibre connections for another 626 people.

Mason said uptake rates are climbing quickly in all townships where the UFB network has been completed with Ruakākā already at 20 per cent, Hikurangi at 54 per cent, One Tree Point at 43 per cent and Waipū at 61 per cent.