News

Talor Green

Lord of the Pings

Talor Green.

Talor Green

Lord of the Pings.

Talor Green is Primo’s senior network engineer.

He and his family moved to Taranaki from Tauranga, and he brings plenty of expertise from his time working with wireless internet providers on the eastern coast.

Originally from Turangi, Talor’s job at Primo is to make sure everything keeps working. If gear fails, or the weather tries its best to break the network, he’s there to keep it going.

Apart from his internet expertise, he also brought over his wife Eveline and their two daughters and they’ve settled in nicely.

He says as a bit of a tech-head, he enjoys working at Primo.

“The network has been built the right way. And for me, tech wise, this is like a kid going to Disneyland.

“Everything’s next level and Primo’s got all the toys!”

Talor’s Team.

The Primo Network Team.

Hanan Pillette
Hanan Pillette
Systems and Security Administrator
Sam Adlam
Sam Adlam
The Network Nerd

Anthony Finnerty

The Chief of Veggie Bytes

Anthony Finnerty.

Anthony Finnerty

The Chief of Veggie Bytes.

One of the voices you’ll hear if you call the Primo Customer Success Team is that of Anthony Finnerty.

He joined Primo in February 2022 as our front of house person, and is now fulltime into help-deskery, making sure connections are working and troubleshooting any issues with customers.

A local through and through and from a large family (he has seven younger siblings) he studied at WITT, doing a diploma in Information Technology. After graduating he spent some time doing forensic-level car grooming till he landed the job at Primo. So not only can he reconfigure your router, he can give you some good tips on getting some of the weirder stains out of carpets.

He’s enjoying the customer service side at Primo.

“Sometimes people have been trying for a while to get decent Internet and it’s nice to be able to give then a ‘yes’, for a change, instead of the ‘no’ they’ve been getting.”

Outside of Primo hours Anthony spends time with his partner and stepchild doing walks around Taranaki, particularly the ones with a waterfall along the way. All the family are vegetarians, and they have a habit of collecting rescue animals, currently having two dogs and a cat.

Joshua Cook

The Gigabit Gladiator

Joshua Cook.

Joshua Cook

The Gigabit Gladiator.

Joshua Cook is one of the specialised generalists that Primo has to install its wireless internet around Taranaki. 

He has a mix of good practical trade skills, coupled with the IT networking and programming skills he picked up through eCampus and LinkedIn Learning. 

Stratford born and raised, Josh joined Primo in March, 2022, after working for 10 years at ANZCO Goods in Eltham.  

Apart from the IT training, he also had some electrical work experience, which is also handy in working out how to get cables, and signals, into a house and through to the router. 

He enjoys hitting the roads and getting to some of the more remote, beautiful places. Places few Taranakians see! 

Matt Harrison elected to the board of TUANZ

Matt Harrison elected to the board of TUANZ

Matt Harrison elected to the board of TUANZ

Taranaki wireless broadband pioneer Matt Harrison has been elected to the board of TUANZ, the influential tech users industry group.

As one of two new regional members of the board of 10, Harrison says his “somewhat surprising election” reflects the new importance TUANZ is placing on making sure rural New Zealanders are included in its goal of making New Zealand one of the top 10 digital countries worldwide by 2030.

The election has come as a surprise for Harrison, the managing director of Primo. He says he was up against 15 other strong candidates from the telco industry, almost all of whom were from large companies in the main centres. He says being a regional internet provider and an advocate for rural users may have swung the vote his way. “This shows me that there is strong support from the whole industry for what we are doing at Primo in providing connections to rural people who would otherwise miss out on having a quality internet link.”

Harrison and his team at New Plymouth-based Primo have created a wireless network around Taranaki which gives affordable broadband access to many of the remotest farms and communities and now has more than 4500 customers. He says getting people access to the Internet is vital for the whole country and reflects his love of technology and the opportunities it creates.

“I have turned my passion and thirst for bringing new technology and ideas to life while working to close the rural and urban digital divides in Taranaki and I have been a big supporter for this happening all around New Zealand. “We have built literal digital highways into the heartland of Taranaki, and we have seen the very real boost this has given to people.”

Harrison, who lives on a rural property in Lepperton with partner Jasmine and his three young daughters, says he has a good insight into the challenges of getting the internet into rural homes, as well as the many opportunities it offers.

Sam Adlam

The Network Nerd

Sam Adlam.

Sam Adlam

The Network Nerd.

Sam Adlam started at Primo as one of our Site Build Team, building and maintaining our internet sites in all the wild places we go to.

Now he has joined our network team where he’ll be dealing with pings, packets and protocols and all the other techie things they do to keep the data humming along.

He’s already had a career in the live events sector as an AV Technician, and loves tinkering with electronics and computers in his spare time, so it’s just a bit more like paid fun for him.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t be going into the wilds anymore. He’s a keen tramper and photographer and loves getting out in the bush. He’s also the Zone Leader of Scouting in Taranaki which means he will be coming up with challenges for the younger generation to test themselves with.

Primo partner with Taranaki Rugby

Primo partner with Taranaki Rugby

Primo have thrown their support behind Taranaki Rugby ahead of the 2021 rugby season.

The locally owned and operated Taranaki business has become an Official First XV Partner for 2021 and will have their brand displayed on the upper back of the Yarrows Taranaki Bulls #3 jersey.

Primo were established in 2006 to provide wireless broadband services to remote Taranaki communities who struggled to get access to fast broadband services. They now provide both wireless and ultrafast broadband services to thousands of corporate and rural customers across Taranaki.

Primo is based on Molesworth Street in New Plymouth and has grown to now employ a team of 21 fantastic local staff who know our region like the back of their hand.

Primo Business Manager Kelly Ellis, said the partnership was all about continuing to grow their brand while supporting their region.

“Primo’s whole ethos of giving back comes from the fact that it was our community who firstly gave to us. It was those early adopters, some that even paid for sites to be built themselves, that’s meant we can do what we do now. It seems only right that we Primo It Forward”.

Ellis goes on to say: “It really is a whole of Taranaki team effort and we’re excited to extend our support of grassroots rugby and get behind our Yarrows Taranaki Bulls this season. It’s our dream to take our team of Taranaki to the team of five million so that they too can all enjoy Primo at their place, and seeing our brand on the back of a Yarrows Taranaki Bulls jersey is an exciting step in that direction.”

Taranaki Rugby Commercial Manager Jimmy Fastier was thrilled to have Primo join the Taranaki Rugby family for 2021.

“Primo are a fantastic example of a Taranaki start-up company. They deliver quality broadband solutions to their clients and they are also huge supporters of their local community.”

Primo are strong supporters of the Taranaki community and support over 90 organisations with their own connectivity needs, as well as numerous Free Primo Wi-Fi hotspots including New Plymouth & Hawera hospitals, and the Hawera and Stratford town centres https://primo.nz/info/primo-hotspots-2

Join the Yarrows Taranaki Bulls 2021 membership family and write yourself into our latest chapter by clicking HERE.

To request a call back or to receive more information on Yarrows Taranaki Bulls membership packages click HERE.

Lee Diamond

The Mischievous Monkey

Lee Diamond.

Lee Diamond

The Mischievous Monkey.

Joining the site build team in February 2021, Lee thinks the best thing about being at Primo is getting to work out in the country and with the people at Primo.

He’s worked outdoors for over 10 years and loves it!  In a previous life he was a travelling barista selling his coffees around NZ.  Pity he isn’t in the office much, he could make us all coffees!

Being the outdoors guy that he is, he loves his motorbike riding and is an active member in the Triumph Motorcycle Club.  He’s a bit of a home mechanic and if he was doing any other job it would be as a motocross rider.  He brings with him a wide range of knowledge and skills across the telecommunications, electronics, defence, welding and fabrication sectors.

Born and bred in Taranaki, Lee loves the mountain to surf and the great weather!  Just as well seeing as he’s outdoors every day.

Jason Leef

The Customer Care Bear

Jason Leef.

Jason Leef

The Customer Care Bear.

You’ll find Jason on the end of our phone or emails supporting our customers with their connections Saturday through to Wednesday every week.

He prides himself on helping customers through the technicalities of their connection in plain English and to get it sorted right the first time.

In his CV Jason said “I lavish the opportunity to work for a local service provider, it has been a long term goal of mine to better myself so that one day I could become apart of a great team who provide meaningful contributions to our local community.”  Now that Jason has his foot in the door he says “the best thing about working here has to be the people. 

Taranaki is a unique little region, with such diverse people.  I work with a great and supportive team.  There isn’t a day that goes by in this office without something comical happening.. Its great!”   It’s great to have you with us Jason we are lucky to have you.

Jason moved back to New Plymouth 5 years ago from Wellington, and doesn’t miss it.  New Plymouth is clean, fresh and cultured.  Outside of work he says he just loves to chill with his son or do one of the odd hikes around our cool walkways.