Christchurch-based internet service provider Snap has opened an office in Dunedin with some large southern clients already on its books.
The company had identified the medium-sized enterprises, with staff numbers ranging from 20 to 500, as its key market, general manager Charlie Boyd said in an interview.
Snap already had NHNZ as a client in Dunedin along with some other city technology companies. It also provided services for RD1.
Snap had employed long-time telecommunications worker Shane Cohen as its business development manager in the region.
Mr Boyd said the company had opened an Auckland office to help grow the market there but chief executive Mark Petrie was keen to expand the South Island market.
There was a sales team of 12 in Christchurch and Dunedin and six in Auckland. Total staff numbers were more than 100.
Snap had been operating since 1994 but when Mr Petrie took over the company two years ago, he wanted to invest in building the network, infrastructure and people.
''We have increased the capability and investment in this part of the world, along with our support team.''
Asked why Dunedin had become important, Mr Boyd said the company already had clients here and he felt the city was being ''deserted'' by competitors.
''The feedback we received was that having someone on the group and talking eyeball to eyeball would be a benefit.''
Previously, a Christchurch-based manager had looked after southern clients, he said.
Fibre uptake in Otago and Southland had been strong and Snap had benefited from being an early adopter of fibre, working with Enable, Flute and Chorus.
Businesses were switching many of their applications to the cloud, using services provided from Xero, MYOB and Microsoft 365, Mr Boyd said.
Larger clients were switching their storage off-site so it could be accessed from anywhere. To do that, fibre was needed.
The need for fibre was becoming greater as institutions such as district health boards moved large medical files. Radiology was a major user of fibre.
Snap could offer phone services through voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and switchboards for larger clients. It had teamed with mobile company 2degrees to provide customers with a mobile solution.
At present, Snap carried 2degrees connectivity from its towers on its fibre backbone, Mr Boyd said.
