26 Jun 2014

Big demand for broadband in Whangarei

8:13 pm on 26 June 2014

Fifty customers a week are hooking up to Whangarei's new ultra-fast broadband network and 200 are on the waiting list.

Lines company Northpower launched the fibre network in May, using its power poles and overhead lines to speed up the process.

Chief executive Mark Gatland says orders for connections have nearly tripled since the launch.

He says Northpower can generally do free overhead connections within a week of an order, and it takes just a few hours.

But he says there's currently a six-week wait for people whose fibre cable needs to go underground.