A Northland power company has won an international award for its ultra-fast broadband fibre network.
Northpower has almost completed its fibre build in Whangarei, making it the first city in New Zealand to be fully serviced by a fibre network.
The company edged out others from around the world at a ceremony in Las Vegas last week, winning the Calix Innovation Award for Fibre Transformation.
Northpower's public affairs manager Steve McMillan says some doubted that a utility company could manage a telecommunications infrastructure project when it won the government contract for the job.
Mr McMillan says the Whangarei fibre build, which has used overhead lines for 60% of the network, has shown the advantages of using a lines company for the project.
