Speedy Internet Sought for Bay; $4m Needed From Fund
By HUNT, Tom
LIGHT FANTASTIC Fibre-optic cables are strands of glass about the thickness of a human hair that light is sent through, rather than a metal cable that transmits electrical pulses. Central Nelson’s fibre- optic cable is made up of 144 strands. While fibre-optic cable capacity is virtually limitless, in good conditions it offers data delivery about 20,000 times faster than the old dial-up service. — —————– Golden Bay looks set to join the information super- highway with a $4 million proposal to reach it with a high-speed cable, as the whole Nelson region ramps up its Internet speed.
If an application to the Government’s $340 million Broadband Investment Fund is successful, Internet users in the bay will be able to download a full DVD movie in about one minute, says Network Tasman chief executive Wayne Mackey.
It is a far cry from the area’s present system, which has drawn complaints that even the most basic tasks such as Internet banking cannot be done in the bay.
Nelson Economic Development Agency projects manager Pip Jamieson confirmed that Network Tasman, Nelson Marlborough Inforegion and Chorus – Telecom’s network access business – had joined forces to apply to the recently announced government fund.
She said that if the application was successful, work on the $4 million project would begin about the middle of next year.
About 69km of fibre- optic cable would be run underground and 20km overhead from Riwaka to Collingwood.
A Murchison connection could be considered later on, said Mrs Jamieson.
Mr Mackey said the fibre-optic connection meant the speed of an Internet connection was virtually limitless.
However, other factors such as the Internet service provider and the actual computers could significantly slow the connection down.
About 360km of fibre-optic cable has already been laid between Picton and Motueka, via St Arnaud, largely serving businesses and schools.
Chorus external communications manager Robin Kelly yesterday confirmed the imminent launch of another, separate scheme in the Nelson region to dramatically increase Internet speed.
The $1.4 billion, three-year, national scheme would see fibre- optic links run from a central exchange to cabinets throughout the city or town, meaning information was able to travel closer to businesses and homes before hitting the older copper-wire network.
As with the other project, it was hard to quantify how much faster the system would be because the speed relied on a lot of variables, but information could travel at up to 20 megabits a second to the cabinets, he said.
Within three years, Nelson would have 43 of the cabinets, Richmond 11 and Motueka four.
Exchanges in Takaka, Wakefield, Mapua, Spring Creek and Brightwater were also due for revamps using the same technology.
Andrew Tilling, of Ligar Bay, who recently sent Telecom a petition signed by 28 residents calling for improved broadband access in Golden Bay, said they were both good projects. However, the root of the problem was that some exchange cabinets still needed upgrading.
A fibre-optic network had been in Golden Bay for about the past decade, but it needed to be connected over the hill, he said.
Repeated attempts to find out from Telecom about upgrades had not been answered satisfactorily, he said.
Golden Bay Community Board chairman Joe Bell said fast broadband access would be “huge” for the bay.
He was optimistic the funding application would be approved and, while the project was mostly being done for existing residents of the bay, it could help to attract more people to move there, he said.
Mr Bell understood Telecom was considering installing second- hand equipment in the existing cabinets that would increase speed but would not be as fast as a new fibre-optic exchange.
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