58 | Taranaki Business Awards: Primo Fibre a future-proof focus for Primo T Virginia Wright Primo’s Matthew Harrison plans to lay fibre along rural roads to reach its wireless towers, improving wireless speeds for existing users but also opening up fibre connectivity for other users. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT When he looks back at the last 20 or so years Matthew Harrison knows that all the jobs he had before setting up telecommunications company Primo helped contribute to the knowledge base that has helped it succeed. He had worked for Telecom when they launched Xtra, then a couple of power companies, and a local computer store, which all gave a good background for a broadband business. But it was his own technical know-how, in solving how to connect with the friend he was playing computer games with, that really set him on his present path to be managing director of one of New Zealand’s locally owned telecommunications companies. “I set up a wireless link to keep my friend connected to the games we wanted to play,” says Matthew. “Then from there I connected his neighbours and then I connected their neighbours, and it just kept growing.” “I started working on it full time in 2007 and incorporated the business as Primo Wireless in 2008 and from there it’s just gone from strength to strength. “We’re at about 4500 customers now, with 25 staff, so over the last five years we’ve grown exponentially compared to the first 15 years. We’re doing fibre in town, and wireless rurally, as well as phone lines, and we’re just starting to get into mobile plans now as well.” While traditionally Primo has supplied wireless broadband to Taranaki’s rural market, the company is now expanding into being a full telecommunications business, helped in part by some recent government initiatives. It’s been awarded contracts as part of the government’s drive to upgrade rural broadband, which has meant Primo can extend its coverage and wireless network’s capacity. Matthew says everyone should have access to efficient internet connections wherever they are. “We’ve come a long way since the days when it would take you half a day to download a song on dial-up. “A good internet connection is basically about speed and latency at the end of the day, and the latency is the time it takes to get from you to the place you want to go on the internet and back. So, if we can keep that latency low to wherever you want to go on the net, whether it’s Facebook or booking an appointment online, then your experience is a lot better,” he explains. Wireless has been at the heart of Primo’s business since the beginning and Primo will continue to embrace all that wireless technology has to offer, but as far as Matthew is concerned, you just can’t beat fibre. “I want to get into laying my own fibre into rural areas,” he says. “Now that we’ve got a lot of areas that are on the fringe of current fibre networks we can extend that ourselves to connect it to our rural sites.” Having bought a tractor and a trencher the plan is for Primo to lay fibre along rural roads to reach their wireless towers, which will both improve the wireless speeds available to existing users, but also means that people along that road have the option of connecting to the fibre they lay. “So they can have the same sort of service as a townie if they want,” says Matthew with satisfaction. “Our first project is on Weld Road just outside Ōakura, so we can effectively run fibre from New Plymouth to our site up on top of the Kaitake ranges, and speed and latency for all those customers will improve dramatically. We’re basically going to lease some fibre and lay some fibre and join it all together to get fibre from town to the Coast.” For Primo it’s a future proofing win-win. A fibre network can handle rapid growth in customer numbers with relative ease compared to the continuous upgrades needed to enable a wireless network to keep up with growing demands. “The government’s idea is to get good capacity out to 99.9 percent of rural customers, Congratulations to Primo, Taranaki’s best business snappernet.co.nz Great relationships primo (Adj): to be of the finest quality, the best, first class The dictionary isn’t wrong. The team at Primo are the best at what they do. As their business advisors we’re proud to have worked with them to grow and strengthen their business. Congratulations on the awards! ACCOUNTANCY HR INSOLVENCY MARKETING IT AUDIT TAXATION www.bakertillysr.nz
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=