Delegates from five New Zealand communities landed at Lovel Field on Sunday to begin their week-long exploration to learn about the benefits Chattanooga is realizing from having access to gigabit Internet connectivity.
Chorus, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications infrastructure company, has been commissioned by the New Zealand government to build a fiber optic network to deliver ultra-fast broadband services to more than 830,000 homes, schools, hospitals and businesses around the country. Inspired by Chattanooga, Chorus created a contest called “Gigatown” to promote the benefits of a fiber optic network and to determine which community would be the first to get acces to the new infrastructure.Five finalist communities were selected out of over 50 competing.
“It’s flattering that Chorus would be inspired by Chattanooga’s infrastructure, and as importantly, our ability to leverage this incredible asset we have. We’re delighted to have Chorus’ finalists spend a week here and look forward to learning from them,” said Ken Hays, Executive Director at the Enterprise Center.
Representatives from each of the five finalist communities will spend a week in Chattanooga before going on to the final stage of the competition. Their week in Chattanooga will include opportunities to learn from various people and institutions already taking advantage of the area’s unique infrastructure. Gigatown’s five finalist communities, all of whom have sent representatives to Chattanooga this week, include Dunedin, Gisborne, Nelson, Timaru and Wanaka.
The prize for the winning community includes town-wide access to a one gigabit per second (1Gbps) internet connection at entry level wholesale broadband prices, along with two different funds worth $700,000 that will help to support business and community developments over the gigabit infrastructure.