“Fibre is absolutely vital... it allows businesses to do things more efficiently.”Cloud Speaker SeriesTauranga

“We were one of the first in Hamilton to have only UFB in our developments. That decision has worked out really well as fibre broadband is all people want now.”Yeoman Property GroupHamilton

“For us it’s just about assisting that seamless connectivity so that we’re working real time with our partners outside our region.”BGBB Team Architects New Plymouth

“The change in pace is so dramatic that it’s completely changing the way we do business.”TGM CreativeNew Plymouth

“Our fibre broadband network means anyone can do business with the world from Whanganui.”Whanganui Digital Leaders ForumWhanganui

Here’s why more businesses and organisations in North

Island are signing up

GO FASTER... GO BETTER WITH FIBRE BROADBAND FOR BUSINESS

FULL SPEED AHEAD FOR ULTRAFAST FIBREBy: William HamiltonUltrafast Fibre Chief Executive

Increasingly New Zealand businesses are leaving the shrinking herd and making the switch to UFB. Many are forward-thinking businesses looking to innovate and maintain a competitive edge in the national and global marketplace by harnessing the power of high-speed internet to transform many aspects of their business operations.

At Ultrafast Fibre we are focused on enhancing the experiences of our customers as they connect, with business connections a key focus of our growth strategy. Right now, business customers make up around 10 per cent of our total base and that number is on the rise; and our future vision is to enable more New Zealand companies to tap into all the benefits that UFB brings.

We believe that access to UFB infrastructure is key for our productive and innovative economy. All levels of business benefit from a fast, reliable internet connection, particularly when it comes to connecting with clients and competing with peers in an increasingly globalised digital economy.

The seamless connectivity of UFB means geographical distance is no longer a barrier for New Zealand businesses. Meetings can now be routinely held with video conferencing, saving time and money on travel and eliminating the frustration and unreliability of patchy phone calls.

Crucially, fibre helps you get things done. It has the power to help your business stay agile and efficient, through maximising cloud computing services, running modern software systems and making large file transfers easy and fast.

As the Local Fibre Company covering the Central North Island, we are proud to have completed our build programme in December last year, well ahead of time and to budget. Today, our 3,000km fibre network covers residential and business premises across 8 towns and cities, meaning a fully-addressable market of over 200,000 end users are able to connect to UFB.

Ultrafast Fibre’s network footprint represents around 13% of the government’s national UFB network. We recently celebrated the 50,000th customer connection and are regularly taking orders in excess of 5,000 a month, so demand remains strong, driving uptake well ahead of projections made when the project began.

Here at Ultrafast Fibre, we believe that laying the foundation for New Zealand’s digital future will also revolutionise the way our country does business online. So, if you are already using UFB in your business, congratulations. In my opinion, that makes you a digital leader. Let’s encourage other New Zealand businesses like yours to make the switch to UFB, and join the fibre revolution!

New Zealand’s business community is experiencing a new era of ‘Go Faster… Go Better’ efficiency by connecting to our world-class Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network.

In the telecommunications sector, previous surges

in customer demand have been for new innovations

such as 3G SIM cards and fixed broadband on existing

copper lines. Delivering both of those products

involved provisioning, which in telecommunications

services means preparing and equipping an existing

product or service to allow it to provide new capability.

When it comes to UFB, the concept of Fibre to the

Home (FTTH) is very different to what our sector has

been used to. I believe it is still very important to widely

educate our customers and our UFB stakeholders on

what FTTH means for them.

By its very nature, FTTH requires “one off

construction” effort for each premise. To deliver high

speed Gigabit broadband services over FTTH, the

physical connection of a premise always requires

careful planning.

As with any construction work, it inherently causes

some disruption when drilling or tools are involved.

However, it is important for note that, like with any

home improvements, this installation adds long term

value to the property. And yet another reason to push

ahead – the fibre installation is free until 2019.

At Ultrafast Fibre we are already witnessing a property

boom in each city where our fibre network has been

completed. This is reflected in observations from our

employees, who live and work in these areas. It also

comes from our Service Desk team, who frequently

receive enquiries from buyers and real estate agents as

to whether UFB is installed in a particular area.

Regional New Zealand has significant geographic

challenges, particularly with our plentiful volcanic

rock. This unique physical environment means that

international benchmarks have limited value when it

comes to measuring New Zealand’s UFB rollout.

Within the Ultrafast Fibre footprints of Tauranga,

Hawera, New Plymouth and Te Awamutu, the terrain

differences are seismic. Equally, town plans in the

North Island have changed as townships have evolved

over time. These terrain or building-type differences

mean a range of construction methods must be used,

which impacts on the number of UFB connections our

construction partners are able to complete in a day.

For example, in some locations a single team of two

fibre technicians can have a smooth run of more than

four installation jobs per day, whereas in other places

the same competent team can only achieve one and a

half installations per day.

Ultrafast Fibre prioritised the connection of 175

schools during our initial build, and we have gone on to

complete our fibre network build six months ahead of

schedule. The Ultrafast Fibre team is now connecting

customers to Gigabit capable FTTH services at around

4,000 connections (construction instances) per month.

This contribution to the New Zealand economy makes

us immensely proud.

FIBRE TO THE HOME – HOW WE ARE CONNECTING NEW ZEALANDERSBy: Richard JeffaresUltrafast Fibre Chief Operating Officer

The challenge to meet current Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) demand in New Zealand is, for me and many of my colleagues, as professionally exciting as it is daunting. UFB is a game-changer in so many respects.

Q: What can fibre broadband do for my business? Is it only suitable for medium and large businesses?Peter: No; fibre broadband is suitable for business of all sizes, including home-based ones.

Q: What is the advantage of fibre broadband over other internet access options? Why should I choose fibre broadband?Peter: It provides fast downloads but also provides faster speeds from your business to the Internet (upstream). This is particularly important where people are using cloud services such as hosted accounting packages and even file sharing such as Microsoft One Drive. It allows you to have the same experience as having those servers in the same building as you; working remotely is no longer just a possibility as it is a widespread reality. The technology truly enables a wide variety of applications helping staff become more efficient and potentially saving the business money in the long run.

While fibre broadband is faster than other access options, it is also more stable. It is not affected by the rain and lightning, which can cause noise on a copper line and slow down your connection. Even during the flooding in Whanganui last year, our fibre network kept working under water.

Q: There are so many plans and pricing out there. How do I find out which is the right one for my business?Peter: The plans that are available tend to be in three groups: fast, faster and fastest. With many internet service providers (ISPs) selling 100 Mbps downstream

plans as their slowest speed plans, this will be great for a large number of businesses. If you have a large business or require to send significant amounts of data then look at the faster or fastest plans.

Also with so many RSPs offering unlimited data plans, selecting one of these plans is only a small amount more yet they offer so much more opportunity to use the Internet.

Q: Do I need to upgrade all my IT equipment when I switch to fibre broadband?Peter: You don’t need to upgrade all

your equipment but there are a couple of items worth considering particularly if you are selecting a plan faster than 100 Mbps.

The first is the router or gateway that plugs into the equipment and this is usually provided by your ISP. Similarly any switches within your network should be able to handle greater than 100 Mbps.

The second item is the Wi-Fi. Make sure that your Wi-Fi is a model that supports the 802.11n or 802.11ac standard and enable the 5 GHz band. Even cellphones can now receive over 100 Mbps over their Wi-Fi connections so best to have lots of bandwidth available.

Q: Who do I need to contact if I have additional questions?Peter: Ultrafast Fibre is a local fibre company and we wholesale fibre broadband access to ISPs, not End Users. For further questions, it’s best to contact your ISP as they have teams of highly trained staff ready to answer your questions.

DEMYSTIFYING FIBRE BROADBAND FOR BUSINESSESAlmost 5,000 businesses across Te Awamutu, Cambridge, Tokoroa, Hawera, Hamilton, Whanganui, Tauranga and New Plymouth have connected to fibre broadband, and the number is rapidly increasing. While education in the market about the benefits of fibre broadband to businesses are becoming more prevalent, there are still plenty of misconceptions about the technology.

Whether you are a local, family-owned business or an enterprise with national presence, read on for an excerpt of an interview with Ultrafast Fibre’s Chief Architect Peter Ensor as he dispels some of the popular myths and misconceptions about fibre broadband for businesses.

Place an order with your broadband service provider.

We will install the External Termination Point as agreed during the Scoping Visit.

We will install the internal fibre and internal equipment and blow fibre from the street to your property. Our technician will test the fibre service to ensure it’s up and running.

For more information, visit www.ultrafastfibre.co.nz/installation-process

STEP 1ORDER

STEP 2SCOPINGVISIT

STEP 3EXTERIORVISIT

STEP 4CONNECTION VISIT

One of our technicians will discuss the installation process and work out the best locations to fit the fibre equipment in your property.

HOW TO GET FIBRE BROADBAND

Managing Director Andrew Yeoman says the company’s decision to design and build all its developments with access to Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) has positioned it as an industry leader.

“We definitely see UFB as vital, both now and into the future,” Mr Yeoman says.

“We were one of the first in Hamilton to have only UFB in our developments. That decision has worked out really well as fibre broadband is all people want now.”

Today, UFB is the backbone of Yeoman Property Group’s business operations and a key benefit of its developments.

All of the Company’s residential and mixed-use developments are designed and built with access to the fibre network, which Andrew Yeoman says is a unique selling point.

“If we can tell people that our developments come with access to faster internet through the fibre network then they respond very positively,” he says.

“Our vision is to design all our future developments with access to the fibre network.”

The iconic 145-home Ridgedale housing development in Hamilton’s north is an example of Yeoman Property Group’s innovative use of UFB in its property development projects.

Yeoman Property Group also uses UFB to support its internal operations and says workplace productivity and efficiency have increased exponentially since switching to UFB in 2012.

“We see UFB as the best performing product in today’s digital market,” Mr Yeoman says.

“Our team uses Dropbox to share all our internal files, so a really fast internet connection is a must.

“We work with large documents, and with UFB we can upload them easily to ensure everyone has access.”

Andrew Yeoman says businesses that make the switch to fibre automatically have an advantage over their competitors.

“The case for UFB is clear – if you have the choice to run a business with slow internet or fast internet, then of course choosing the faster option will benefit your business,” he says.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that fibre is the way of the future for New Zealand businesses.”

THE FUTURE IS LOOKING BRIGHT FOR YEOMAN PROPERTY GROUPFibre is not only the way of the future for Hamilton-based property developer Yeoman Property Group, it’s the way of the present.

Rebekah Kenny, Project Manager; Andrew Yeoman, Managing Director; and Adam Wilson, Assistant Project Manager

BOON GOLDSMITH BHASKAR BREBNER (BGBB) TEAM ARCHITECTS Disjointed design conversations over patchy video calls are a thing of the past for the creative minds behind projects like New Plymouth’s Govett Brewster Art Gallery and Rotorua’s Energy Event Centre.

LEADING THE CREATIVE AND DESIGN INDUSTRY IN NEW PLYMOUTH New Plymouth-based design, print and web agency TGM Creative is just one business benefitting from fast and reliable internet. Depending on the task, the agency has cut its production time by 30 - 70 per cent since switching to Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB).

Boon Goldsmith Bhaskar Brebner (BGBB) Team Architects was one of the first New Plymouth businesses to connect to Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) when the cable was laid down their stretch of the CBD.

Managing Director Glenn Brebner says the seamless connectivity they have been experiencing since then means geographical distance is no longer a barrier for the architects and their clients. “For us it’s just about assisting that seamless connectivity sot hat we’re working real time with our partners outside our region.”

More than half of their clients are based outside of New Plymouth, so UFB is crucial for their business liaisons, the says. “The fast and reliable internet speed makes working with clients across the country more feasible. “We work with some pretty contemporary software systems and drawing files are particularly large.

“On some projects we’ll have architects here in New Plymouth and engineers down in Christchurch and everyone needs to share a common file. We need to be able to share large files quickly and easily and UFB allows that.”

The company is also part of the national Team Architects group and fortnightly Skype calls have been smooth and seamless since switching to UFB, Glenn says. “Typically, we have about eight people on the same call, from different accounts. That sheer number was causing us problems and we could only connect by voice in New Plymouth.

“Calling with UFB, that’s no longer a problem. We can connect by voice and video and it works perfectly.”

Even when calling clients in Australia, the UK and the Pacific, video and voice are clear and have no interruptions, he says. “It has taken a disjointed and often awkward call to the point where we can now have a complex design conversation face-to-face.”

Founder Andrea Leadbetter says the switch to UFB has had the most dramatic impact of any technological update in her 26 years in business. “The change in pace is so dramatic that it’s completely changing the way we do business. “It would take us about 20 hours to build a website and now we can do it between four and eight hours,” she says. “It means we can spend more time on the design. We can then pass that time saving on to our clients and offer them more cost-effective sites and our value added services.”

The TGM Creative team are now finishing projects so much faster that they are preparing to take on an extra salesperson to fill their increased capacity. “The next step is to bring on more designers because we can now be really effective with our production,” Andrea says.

As well as increasing efficiency, the faster internet speed means Andrea can now video call into her meetings, saving her time and money. “I used to travel to Auckland because video calling would either drop off or the sound quality was too low. Now I Skype all of my meetings,” she says.

TGM Creative is also part of the national network of full service agencies called Printing.com. Sending large files to their print team in Wellington is now easy and getting a 32MB file through quickly is “the new norm”. “Previously, we had a lot of down time waiting through the process which we don’t have now. And as most of our administration is carried out using sophisticated and leading edge web technology, the new speed has transformed the way we work.”, Andrea says.

CLOUD SPEAKER SERIES In the four years that the Cloud Speaker Series has been helping businesses operate through new technologies, co-founder Rory Birkbeck has seen business people transform from paper-based learners to cloud-based adopters.

The Cloud Speaker Series is a business community-based initiative, founded in Tauranga, that brings together small local businesses to learn how new technologies can increase their operational efficiency.

Mr Birkbeck says because of increasing technology adoption rates in Tauranga, the speaker series has evolved from just educating people on the basics, to now discovering and sharing innovative ways other small businesses are using technology to improve the way they work.

“Four years ago, the idea that some businesses didn’t have a website was realistic. Whereas now, particularly with the availability of the fibre network, businesses not only have a website but they are using cloud technologies in every part of their operations,” Mr Birkbeck says.

Businesses are finding that the extra efficiencies of cloud technologies are saving them as much as 8-12 hours per

month, which in turn is saving them on administration costs, Mr Birkbeck says.

“We’ve been able to pick up on those success stories and present them back to the community, saying ‘here’s what’s going on around us, here are the tools and here’s how you can apply it to your own business to get the best result’.”

Mr Birkbeck says Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) is essential for businesses to truly maximise cloud technologies, and has proved to be an advantage for

Tauranga businesses.

“Fibre is absolutely vital in terms of speed to access. With any of those cloud-based technologies, you want real-time data.

“It allows businesses to do things more efficiently and offer a variation in their service, that their competitors can’t.

“A good strong fibre connection in your office ensures you are keeping up with the rest of the world.”

WHY WHANGANUI WINSIf there is a district that achieves the delicate balance of protecting its heritage, while at the same time strategically looking into the future, Whanganui could just be the place. It is not surprising that businesses are taking notice of Whanganui; it is wired with fibre broadband and is a globally certified “intelligent community” awarded by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF).

ICF has recognised Whanganui as a Smart21 Intelligent Community for the last four years and, in 2016, as a Top 7 awardee.

Marianne Archibald, who works with the Whanganui Digital Leaders Forum (WDLF), describes the win as “remarkable”. She adds, “We are internationally recognised for our work towards ensuring digital equality as an important means of increasing learning and social outcomes and addressing socioeconomic issues facing all 21st century communities.”

Leading WDLF is Mayor Annette Main who understands that partnerships across diverse areas are critical to grow a resourceful community. This active engagement is one of the many reasons why businesses are making a move to the district.

“We have a dynamic workforce, a district of confident digital adoptees and we are a competitive alternative to the main centres. Our fibre broadband network means anyone can do business with the world from Whanganui”, says Mayor Main.

Continuously looking for ways to lead and innovate, WDLF is running a programme called #GetDigital which provides a free platform for businesses to

increase their online engagement. Businesses can sign up at www.aboutus.co.nz.

Another initiative, in cooperation with a group called WeLearn, is to increase Whanganui students’ ability to work in the 21st century. WDLF are also focusing on increasing innovation through the triple helix (education-industry-government) model.

Businesses can contact WDLF by sending an email to the Chair, Whanganui Mayor Annette Main at Annette.main@whanganui.govt.nz

WhanganuiDLF

ICF Co-founder John Jung with WDLF Chair Mayor Annette Main and CEO of Archibald & Co. Marianne Archibald

Improved business functionality and performance. Less time waiting and more time doing, remote staff can be more flexible and cloud apps more efficient

Ultrafast business internet that’s affordable. Fibre broadband delivers better internet for a similar price as copper broadband

Internet speed like never before. Fibre broadband is fast enough for all your online needs

Ultrafast internet for everyone at work. With the power of fibre broadband everyone can work unhindered at the same time

Minimal disruption for maximum benefits. Our careful project planning and technical scoping minimises disruptions

Huge benefits for next to nothing. For a nominal connection charge you can get substantial benefits! Why wait to upgrade?

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