Ray's putting together his digital future

Ray’s thrilled to have broadband at home

Ray’s an expert at piecing things together.

For decades, he was a hard-working compositor, turning lead type into millions of words for countless printed publications.

Today, he’s gathering and arranging facts online as he uses his new Skinny Jump broadband connection to research his family tree.

“I found out my great grandfather was from England. I need to find out what ship he came out on. I’m learning about my roots.”

Ray’s connecting with his past using a very modern connection provided by a collaboration between Skinny Jump, Enable Fibre Networks and ŌCHT.

The partners are bridging the digital divide by offering free internet connections to digital excluded ŌCHT tenants.

Ray was among the first hundred tenants to take up the offer of two years free Skinny Jump internet at home.

He’s used his new connection to make regular video calls to friends and family, to shop online – and to listen to his favourite rock and country classics.

“Having the internet at home gives me independence and allows me to do my own thing.

“I still go out even though I have it, but it means I can do something different and watch something different.”

Ray was pretty adept at using a computer before he got an internet connection at home.

He’d been to a few computer courses with friends some years ago, and he regularly visited his local library to use the public computers.

But for all his interest, Ray didn’t have the internet at home before ŌCHT offered digitally excluded tenants the free Skinny Jump connection.

“I didn’t have broadband before as there’s the cost factor.

“By the time you pay out, it’s quite a chunk of my pension. Plus the modem is quite a big cost.

“I was using the data on my phone for all internet searches.

“Now I can speak with my friends in Gore and Dunedin over video for free. It makes things a bit more personal.”

He remembers how daunting it was to wrap his head around new technology.

“When I got my first computer I didn’t know how to turn it on as I’d never had one before, but as with a lot of things you learn as you go.”

ŌCHT’s doing its bit to help with free digital training workshops for tenants across Christchurch.

The workshops cover everything from digital banking and digital safety, to how to use smartphones, email and social media.

Participants also get to grips with using YouTube, searching with Google and Google Maps, and how to safely shop online.

Ray’s got a message for other tenants who may be apprehensive about adopting digital technology.

“When I first started using the internet I was nervous and frightened about doing the wrong thing.

“I was scared of making mistakes. But just stick with it, play around, you slowly learn.

“There’s so much information out there if you want to learn things, then there’s the social side of it.

“It’s a learning process, just like life. So get on your bike and learn it!

“What have you got to lose? You’re opening up another window, opening up the world.

“You’ve got the world at your fingertips.”