The Auckland roll-out of ultra-fast broadband began on the North Shore on Wednesday.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Stephen Joyce laid the first fibre in a street in an industrial area of Albany.
The 1cm-thick cable carries 144 strands of fibre which will be plugged into nearby businesses.
Mr Joyce says 50,000 businesses and homes throughout New Zealand will be connected to ultra-fast broadband by July next year.
The Chorus arm of Telecom is responsible for about three-quarters of the work.
It says customers in some suburbs of Ashburton, Auckland, Blenheim, Dunedin, Masterton, Napier-Hastings, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Taupo and Wellington will be connected by the end of June 2012.
Other companies rolling out ultra-fast broadband have begun laying fibre in centres including Tauranga, Hamilton and Whanganui.
