Dunedin just behind Gisborne in Gigatown contest

Dunedin appeared to end agonisingly close, but just behind Gisborne at the end of the social media phase of the Gigatown race. But second place comes with its own reward.

The competition, which was developed by Chorus, was launched on October 2013 with 50 towns across New Zealand competing to become the country's first `Gigatown'.

That would mean access to much faster internet speeds _ one gigabit per second internet connection _ at the price normally paid for entry level broadband.

Just five towns remain in the competition; Dunedin, Wanaka, Timaru, Nelson and Gisborne.

The social media component of the competition, including quiz and supporter sign ups, ended at noon.Gisborne was ahead this morning with 30% social media share, followed by

Dunedin with 29.8%, and Wanaka with 16%.

The Gigatown office in George St, set up with Dunedin City Council funding, was full of people frantically using social media just before midday.
Dunedin was 0.3% behind as the penultimate phase of the competition closed, though Gigatown Dunedin promoter Josh Jenkins said there may be movement in the figure as spam emails were sorted out of the count.

The first place-getter on the social media aspect of the competion gets 30 million points, though the second place-getter gets 24 million.

Mr Jenkins said voting on the final stage, in which Dunedin puts together a ``plan for success'' for if it wins the event, begins on November 19, after he and supporters put the 12-page plan together.
Dunedin was neck and neck with Gisborne in the social media shares as the latest stage of the Gigatown competition came to a end at 12pm today.

The winning 'Gigatown' will be rewarded with access to a 1 Gigabit per second (1Gbps) internet connection at a price you'd expect to pay for entry level

The competition closes on November 24.

 

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