TTK
28/02/2014 12:13
GENERAL
REL: 1213 HRS TeamTalk Limited
GENERAL: TTK: Celebrations to Mark Farmside's 1,000th RBI Customer
Celebrations to mark the 1,000th RBI customer
Rural businesses and residents of Levin celebrated the roll out of high speed
internet recently, with Farmside signing up its 1,000th customer to fixed
wireless rural broadband under the Government's Rural Broadband Initiative
(RBI).
Local business people Gary and Maria Pearson, of 'Yard Art' in Levin, were
thrilled to be the lucky 1,000th connection.
Hon Nathan Guy, Minister for Primary Industries and MP for Otaki joined
Farmside and Vodafone in a celebration at Farmside customer Gary and Maria
Pearson's business in Levin.
Bringing high speed internet to rural areas of New Zealand is critical for
the country's economic future, says the Hon Nathan Guy.
The RBI shows the Government understands the challenges in connecting rural
and provincial areas to better broadband. The RBI will see 87% of rural New
Zealand able to access higher speed internet, either through fixed wireless
or fixed line service that is reliable, efficient and cost effective.
David Ware, Managing Director of TeamTalk, Farmside's parent company,
explained that Farmside is the top provider for the RBI in terms of fixed
wireless connections.
"We are really excited to be working with Vodafone to connect rural customers
to fixed wireless broadband as the RBI is rolled out nationwide over the next
few years," says David.
But it is the customers who are the real winners. "Internet connection is
crucial to our business, it's fantastic to have access to fixed wireless
broadband in Levin now," says Gary.
"We have a business website that generates lots of orders, plus all our
banking is done online, so it's really important to us to have broadband. And
we discovered that Farmside was cost competitive, so we're very very happy."
Ends
Further information: David Ware, 0800 101-900
Farmside is a wholly owned subsidiary of NZX listed TeamTalk Limited and is
New Zealand's leading rural connectivity specialist, with more than 15,000
rural customers. Rural New Zealand's broadband internet specialist, Farmside
provides fast broadband via Satellite, RBI Fixed Wireless and Fixed Line
solutions, as well as phone and mobile access.
End CA:00247644 For:TTK Type:GENERAL Time:2014-02-28 12:13:23
