They are calling it a David-and-Goliath battle, but Gigatown Wanaka campaigners are not crying foul in their contest against much bigger opponents.
There are huge disparities in population size across the five finalist towns in Chorus' Gigatown competition to win extra internet speed, ranging from Wanaka, which has 6471 permanent residents, to Dunedin, with 120,249 residents.
During the competition's first round, points were adjusted for population size, but the rules changed in the finals.
The Otago Daily Times asked Chorus and Wanaka's Gigatown camp whether they thought the social media component of the competition - which makes up 25% of the final points tally - was still a level playing field.
Chorus external relations manager Steve Pettigrew said all towns had an equal opportunity to promote themselves to the rest of New Zealand to build social media support.
''And particularly, to a certain extent, with Wanaka attracting a good level of tourism into there, that can be built very quickly.''
Wanaka had ''connections all around New Zealand'' and internationally, which residents could use to their advantage, he said.
Smaller towns also had an advantage in that they had a much stronger community spirit.
''In somewhere like Dunedin it's actually harder to get that sense of community.''
Gigatown Wanaka campaign manager Kelly Good agreed there were advantages to being small.
''We proved by winning the first round of Gigatown that a community able to react quickly can also engage and execute its plans efficiently.
"This competition is all about engaging with our small but passionate permanent population and thousands more around the country who have fond memories of the place and the people.
"Kiwi families have been enjoying Wanaka for generations and we're busy capitalising on that goodwill.''
Wanaka was ''still neck and neck'' with Dunedin and Gisborne in the social media component, and the town was developing a ''truly innovative'' plan for gigabit internet speeds, which counts for 50% of each finalist's total points tally.
''It may be a David-and-Goliath battle, but we think we've found our slingshot,'' Mrs Good said.
However, Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager James Helmore considered it a ''huge ask'' to expect Wanaka to compete with other much larger cities on a non-weighted population basis.
''It doesn't strike me as fair at all.''
