Rural areas to get fast broadband

Rural southerners are closer to cruising the internet highway faster, with the Government announcing it will roll out high-speed broadband in provincial areas.

Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce yesterday said under the plan, 97 per cent of rural households would get access to broadband services of at least 5Mbps, or millions of bits per second, and the remainder would have speeds of at least 1Mbps.

Work on the $300 million plan is expected to begin next year.

A key focus of the plan was connecting fibre directly to rural schools, where demand was most concentrated.

Garston Primary School principal Kathryn O'Loughlin was thrilled with the new plans and said it would open up a whole new world for her pupils.

Access to more information, more readily would even up the ledger between rural and urban schools, she said.

Thornbury School principal Anne Batt said her school already had high-speed broadband and the benefits for the pupils were telling.

She was certain all rural schools and their pupils would reap the rewards from the move.

Southland Secondary Principals' Association chairman Tom Clark said broadband would not only help learning, but teaching as well.

It would giving teachers the ability to share and access resources like never before, he said.

Online learning could also take a leap forward, drawing information from a wider pool, Mr Clark said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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