Graphics software company Ambient Design Ltd needs a high-speed internet connection to service its clients. It is a Kiwi company employing local developers and support staff, but does most of its business online in the US with its flagship product ArtRage for Windows and MacOS X. Co-founder of Ambient Design Andy Bearsley says that despite being located in Riverhead, just 35 minutes from downtown Auckland, he cannot get a fibre internet connection.
"The difficulty is that I’m a software engineer running an international software development company. We don’t have an office, everyone works from home, so a lot of data needs to be shifted around at a reasonably high rate," says Andy.
Ambient Design had tried several providers to get a decent internet connection, including a copper ADSL connection and a wireless connection, but these only achieved speeds of up to 10Mb/s.
"Given the amount of data we are using that’s not adequate and means we might be spending a day downloading software updates for a machine and that’s a waste of a day," Andy says. The company was previously based in the Waitakere Ranges where it faced the same issues around connectivity and consistently low broadband speeds have resulted in many staff hours being wasted, year after year.