Schools in line for fast internet

Nineteen Porirua and Tawa schools will be among the 693 to be included in the next round of ultrafast broadband rollouts.

The second stage of work to widen the fibre network is scheduled to begin on July 1 and be completed by the end of June 2013. The project, administered by the Government’s Crown Fibre Holdings, aims to connect about 75 per cent of the country’s urban areas by 2020.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says UFB will allow a transformation in teaching.

‘‘ By the end of 2015, 97.7 per cent of schools and 99.9 per cent of students will receive UFB enabling speeds of 100 megabits per second.’’

In the Wellington region the fibre network is being installed and managed by ex-telecom subsidiary Chorus, one of the companies working on the initiative nationally. The latest announcement includes six towns that are new to the project, as well as more plans for places where the project was begun last year.

Chorus chief executive Mark Ratcliffe says the project is gaining momentum and the company has 29,999km of cable reaching more than 830,000 properties.

‘‘Each week, our team lays a further 50 km of new fibre optic cable past homes, schools, major health facilities and businesses,’’ he says.

The company plans to release further forecasts for upcoming areas to be connected to ‘‘ give stakeholders a view of our forecast plans so that they can make informed decisions about product development, provide input on likely demand areas and co-ordinate local works’’, he says.