The New Zealand government has awarded TeamTalk a NZ$2.5 million ($2.2 million) contract to improve broadband connection in the Chatham Islands.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said the initial focus will be on connecting the three local schools to faster broadband. Eventually the infrastructure will also be used as the basis to deliver similar benefits for the wider community.
“The new broadband will be faster, more reliable and cheaper than the existing satellite services, and there will be no set up fee for getting connected to the new service for the first six months,” he said.
The project involves increasing the satellite bandwidth connection for the islands, which are roughly 800 kilometers east of Christchurch. Broadband connections will be provided for Kaingaroa, Pitt Island and Te One schools, the health center and other government and local authority offices.
In the Waitangi area, the service will use the existing copper network for distribution. Fixed wireless broadband services will be provided via five hill top sites to about 200 residential premises in some of the more remote areas and on Pitt Island.
The contract also provides funding for TeamTalk to add a cellular service in the future, if one of the existing cellular operators decides to partner with TeamTalk.
“Having reliable broadband will mean our local students, businesses and medical providers will be able to access the internet, video conferencing and specialist health and education services," said Chatham Islands Mayor Alfreed Preece.