Tauranga residents could be among those eligible for free Ultra-Fast Broadband connection.

The Government is continuing its $1.6 billion rollout of UFB until at least 2019, with Hamilton-based Ultra-Fast Fibre providing connection in the Tauranga area.

Communications Minister Amy Adams says the government is committed to connecting virtually every household for free.

'I want as many New Zealand homes as possible to enjoy the benefits of the Government's $1.6 billion UFB rollout,” she says.

'Under previous arrangements, almost all non-standard UFB residential connections were free until the end of this year. I'm delighted that we've been able to extend that agreement to the end of phase one the UFB build in December 2019 and intend to ensure similar provisions exist in contracts for UFB phase two.”

The agreement forged between Crown Fibre Holdings (CFH) and Chorus means Chorus will continue to offer free residential UFB installations for almost every homeowner until the end of the UFB initiative.

The local fibre companies, Northpower, Enable and Ultrafast Fibre, have already agreed to provide free non-standard installations to the end of 2019.

The Request for Proposals for the phase two UFB extension programme also provides for free residential connections for homes which are up to 200m from the boundary. UFB2 negotiations are underway and announcements can be expected by the end of the year.