Fibre Boosts Employment in the Bay

Local MP’s Craig Foss and Chris Tremain said the benefits of fibre for the Hawke’s Bay region spanned beyond faster internet speeds, security and reliability following the announcement by UnisonFibre that almost 40 new jobs had been created and new start-up businesses were being drawn to the region.

“Community owned organisations such as Unison are investing millions in the future growth of our region, and they should be applauded,” said Tukituki MP, Craig Foss.
Fibre opened the international door for the Hawke’s Bay region, he said, where having fibre would help facilitate sales of produce and increase tourism.

“As an exporting region we will be able to push virtual produce to the rest of the world. And, with fibre, those last excuses for not living in the beautiful Bay are eliminated,” he said.

Napier MP Chris Tremain concurred, commenting that fibre brought Hawke’s Bay closer to international customers and the global economy.

“New Zealand is better placed now than any other time in our history to take advantage of global markets. New Free Trade Agreements provide access to markets with huge populations and with growing affluence.

“The roll out of fibre brings Bay businesses a step closer to these markets, cutting down the tyranny of distance. Fibre is a huge step forward in bringing us closer to the rest of the world,” he said. Mr Tremain said he was “really excited” about the news of more jobs for the region following the fibre roll out – a number he believed would only grow on the back of this announcement. “This is fantastic news for the Bay, and shows what we can achieve when we invest in new technology.”
UnisonFibre Sales and Marketing Manager, Wayne Baird said that over 30 jobs had been created within the Unison Group to enable the roll-out of the fibre network, together with another six being created among the local Retail Service Providers.

“This is a huge leap forward for our community and we believe employment growth in the region will only increase over the coming months as we continue to build throughout the Bay.

“We have also attracted new start-up companies to the region, with Retail Service Provider ‘VIP’ setting up in Napier as a Cloud/Virtualisation provider,” he said.
The next stage of the fibre build started this week in Hastings and Onekawa, and Mr Baird said UnisonFibre planned to have the majority of the business community, schools and health providers connected to the fibre network over the next 12 months.

UnisonFibre has already installed over 140 kilometres of fibre in Hastings, Napier and Havelock North, and local businesses across the region are registering their interest at getonit.co.nz to avail the free installation being offered by UnisonFibre – an incentive with a saving potential for businesses of approximately $5,000.

“This is a great opportunity for Hawke’s Bay business to catch up with the rest of the world and become more competitive. We are already seeing huge interest in what we are offering and urge businesses to register their interest at getonit.co.nz,” said Mr Baird.

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