Ericsson to create $15m fibre optic plant in Porirua

Communications and Information Technology Minister Amy Adams has today welcomed an announcement by telecommunications company Ericsson that it will build a fibre ducting manufacturing facility in Wellington.

Ericsson is investing some $15 million in a new facility in Porirua which will be built and in production later this year, creating about 30 jobs.

The plant will produce optical fibre ducting for Chorus as part of the Government’s Ultra-Fast Broadband Initiative (UFB), and potentially also for export to the Asia-Pacific region.

The facility, only the second Ericsson has built and the first outside of Sweden, will also include facilities for specialised training, and research and development.

“It is positive to see a leading company like Ericsson choose to increase its presence in New Zealand, as we roll out a massive fibre deployment programme,” Ms Adams says.

“The deployment of UFB is one of the largest and transformative infrastructure projects ever to be undertaken in New Zealand. Today’s announcement is a tangible example of the innovation, job opportunities and in the longer term, higher productivity, that will result from our UFB programme.”

About 25,000km of fibre will be required across the 33 cities and towns covered by the UFB rollout.