Ultrafast Fibre welcomes this week’s Government announcement to change tenancy laws to ensure renters can also access ultra-fast broadband (UFB).

Changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 are aimed at improving the installation process for fibre in rental properties by requiring landlords to permit and facilitate the installation of UFB, subject to certain triggers and exemptions.

UFF Chief Executive John Hanna says that as uptake continues to soar, it is great to see that renters will have an easier way to get new fibre connections.

“With the demand for bigger, better, faster fibre broadband on the rise, it’s pleasing to see the Government introduce this change so everyone can access fibre and enjoy all the benefits this can bring, regardless of whether they own or rent their homes.”

“This change will go some way to help us bring an online experience to more homes across the Central North Island that is faster and performs more reliably than other broadband technologies available today.”

Uptake has reached 63% among UFF’s UFB1 towns, which means there is still work to do to connect the remaining premises to fibre. Further, UFF has recently completed its second phase of the government’s UFB rollout programme (UFB2 and UFB2+), with 27 new towns  and 30,000 additional premises able to get fibre connections.

Another 636km of new fibre has been added to the UFF’s network two years ahead of schedule, with a total of 3,500km built across a region spanning Hamilton, Tauranga, New Plymouth and Whanganui.

Ultrafast Fibre will submit during the select committee process, outlining its support for the proposed UFB related changes.