NEWS: Taupo’s Free WiFi Up for Award

The free WiFi service launched in Taupō in June has been named a finalist in the 2015 Tourism Industry Awards. The WiFi service is up for the Tourism 2015 Enabler Award, supported by Air New Zealand (one of 10 award categories).

Two Wellington organisations, Positively Wellington Tourism and Angus & Associates Wellington, are the other two finalists in this category. The winner will be announced, along with the other category winners, at the Tourism Industry Awards dinner at Sky City in Auckland on October 2. An overall winner will take out the Air New Zealand Supreme Tourism Industry Award and will receive international air travel to any Air New Zealand destination in North America, South America or Asia, valued at up to $10,000 to help them grow their tourism business.

The wireless internet in Taupo is provided by T>Stream, an internet provider owned by the Tuaropaki Trust, and is supported by Taupō District Council, Destination Great Lake Taupō, Towncentre Taupō and local business owners. The T>Stream service can be accessed from most of the Taupō CBD and popular recreational areas including the lake front, marina, Owen Delany and Crown Parks and at this stage there is no limit to the amount of data used.

Destination Great Lake Taupo Manager, Damian Coutts said, “free WiFi services in most other regions are ratepayer-­‐funded, so it is a unique arrangement that we have here in Taupo with the Tuaropaki Trust and is a great point of difference that has surely supported our success in becoming a finalist.” “We are delighted the service is being recognised as we believe the project has been a fantastic collaboration, that has resulted in an essential tool for enhancing visitor experience here in Taupo, as well as helping to boost tourism in the region,” he said.

Users can log in to the service by searching for the ‘free T-­‐Stream Taupo’ network, which upon login will direct them to www.GreatLakeTaupo.com as a landing page. From there users can explore the web as they please and can be online for an hour before having to log in again (again at no cost).

There are 15 free WiFi sites now available throughout Taupō, with more in the pipeline, including Huka Falls. A full list of these sites is available HERE.