Spark and Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa expand JUMP in Taranaki

Today Spark Foundation and partner Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa have announced that they will expand their JUMP programme in the Taranaki region through new community partner New Plymouth District Libraries.

As classroom learning goes digital, students without broadband at home are at risk of being left behind. JUMP is a not-for-profit and community driven programme which enables more children to go online outside of classroom hours and get on the right side of the digital divide.

JUMP provides an easy, plug-in-and-go solution for parents with a free modem preloaded with 30GB30GB and then all subsequent top ups are subsidised  atonly $10 for 30GB of data. This prepaid and contract-free service uses the Skinny Broadband platform and provides wireless home broadband via a 4G mobile signal.    

Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa and Spark Foundation have partnered to rollout JUMP across New Zealand through local community organisations. This new relationship with New Plymouth District Libraries will expand the JUMP programme in the Taranaki region, including Puke Ariki, Inglewood, Waitara, Bell Block and Oakura libraries and will help to identify and refer more families from Taranaki who are eligible for the programme.

Lead for Spark Foundation, Kate Thomas, is pleased to be partnering with an organisation established in the Taranaki community.

“We’re delighted New Plymouth District Libraries have joined the JUMP programme to help get more New Zealanders connected and participating in the modern digital era. JUMP is a not-for-profit programme and community partners are critical to its success. We look forward to getting lots more Taranaki homes connected and learning.”

Laurence Zwimpfer, Chairperson of the Digital Inclusion Alliance, has welcomed the expansion of the JUMP  delivery network to Taranaki. “We know a lot of families struggle to meet the costs of a home internet connection and JUMP provides a very affordable solution.  As a pre-pay service, families are also better able to manage their costs and avoid any large unexpected charges. We appreciate the support of library staff in New Plymouth in helping local families get connected.” Families can check their eligibility for JUMP by visiting sparkfoundation.org.nz/sparkjump or by visiting their local library.

Notes to the editor:

According to the 2013 NZ Census, there were over 80,000 households with children aged 0-17, which said they did not have home broadband (or which did not specify whether they had broadband).

Traditional home broadband has previously been out of reach for thousands of New Zealanders due to large built-in costs of fixed lines that are passed onto telcos.

JUMP utilises Skinny's wireless broadband network which offers a breakthrough solution to the affordability challenges of fixed broadband services. Combined with a subsidy from Spark, JUMP is an affordable solution for families who may otherwise been priced out of the market for traditional broadband. Wireless broadband currently covers over 90% of New Zealand.  JUMP is an initiative designed to bring heavily subsidised home broadband to thousands of New Zealand children. JUMP is a highly flexible pre-paid scheme for selected families, offering a modem and 30GB of data for $10. Community-based organisations nationwide identify and refer eligible families. By ensuring children have access to online learning at home, JUMP is Spark’s way of helping solve the digital divide in New Zealand.  

Spark is working with community partners to expand the initiative across the country, including Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa (with 120 local community partners, mainly libraries), Web Access Waikato Trust, DIGITS in Palmeerston North and Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru in Rotorua.