Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Wakatipu are set to be the first to receive Chorus Hyperfibre broadband, according to a statement from Chorus.
Hyperfibre is the next generation of broadband technology on Chorus fibre network. It is able to deliver broadband speeds of up to 8Gbps.
Importantly, these speeds will also be symmetric, meaning it will be the same for both uploading and downloading files or content.
Chorus says the launch of Hyperfibre is in response to changing consumer behaviour. The rise of 4K video streaming, cloud storage, advanced gaming, multiple connected devices and more people wanting to work remotely means that broadband speed, capacity and very low latency are now more important than ever.
Hyperfibre has the potential to transform businesses, particularly those using high performance software applications that depend on real-time communication and ultra-high-resolution images, Chorus states.
Chorus chief customer officer Ed Hyde says, "We are delighted to be launching Hyperfibre in Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Wakatipu.
"We know these towns are home to many entrepreneurial businesses in the creative arts and tourism industries that would benefit from these unprecedented symmetric speeds.
"We're already hearing how Hyperfibre is enabling local businesses to more rapidly enter markets around the world and reporting large file transfers, up to 1TB, taking under 20 minutes as opposed to half a day.
The availability of Hyperfibre means New Zealand is one of only 10 countries in the world to deploy broadband faster than one gigabit per second, and it is the first in the Southern Hemisphere.
The new speeds afforded by Hyperfibre result in an estimated time saving of 59 hours per year, hours previously spent waiting for streams and files to upload or download.
"Hyperfibre really does demonstrate just how near limitless our fibre network is," Hyde says.
Initially 2Gbps and 4Gbps services are being made available. Orcon, part of the Vocus Group, is the first broadband retailer to offer the 4Gbps service.
Following the launch in Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Wakatipu, Wellington will receive the service. The nationwide rollout of Hyperfibre will begin in September.
Customers in launch areas to visit the Chorus website and enter their address into the broadband checker to see if they can get Hyperfibre.
The initial Hyperfibre launch will deliver end users the Hyperfast broadband experience and allow use of the residential gateway functionality on the Hyperfibre ONT. Service providers may offer a voice service via their residential gateway.
Development of HyperFibre will see Chorus enabling a voice solution supported by the Chorus RGW, which is expected to be ready for release in the next six months.
