The start of ultra-fast broadband in Dunedin was officially launched on Thursday.
The Government is spending $1.5 billion nationally to provide three-quarters of the country with high-speed internet by 2020.
Chorus (formerly part of Telecom) installed the first network boxes and fibre cables outside Dunedin Hospital.
Chorus says it will have transformed the possible internet speeds of 14 schools and 1400 homes and businesses in North Dunedin by the end of June this year.
However, it says the higher speed will be available only when retail packages go on sale.
Dunedin mayor Dave Cull says the launch is a milestone for information technology businesses which employs 4500 people but have been digitally constrained.
