Arrowtown has joined the information fast lane with the introduction of 4G by Vodafone. Glenorchy will follow by Christmas.
The world's fastest commercially available mobile network technology was launched in the village on Thursday.
Arrowtown joins the 4G South Island club alongside Queenstown, Wanaka, Lake Brunner and Christchurch, plus seven more centres in the North Island.
Vodafone's 4G coverage in the Wakatipu covers central Queenstown and Queenstown Hill, Fernhill and Sunshine Bay near the lakefront, almost all of Gorge Rd, Frankton, Kelvin Heights and Lake Hayes, and parts of Jack's Point.
The company said its 4G network is up to 10 times faster than standard 3G services.
Technology director Sandra Pickering, of Wellington, said Vodafone was ''proud to be the first and only provider bringing superfast 4G to Arrowtown''.
''Our customers in New Zealand's major centres are already enjoying the speed of 4G and now they can enjoy 4G in Arrowtown - whether that's using their device as a Wi-Fi hot spot, streaming content, accessing the cloud, or web browsing.''
Wakatipu residents wanting to experience the speed of 4G will need a qualifying plan and a 4G-capable device with the latest software, and be in a 4G coverage area.
Devices switch to Vodafone's next-fastest 3G speeds when customers leave a 4G coverage area. Vodafone announced it would extend 4G capability to Glenorchy, Dunedin, Te Anau, Kaikoura, Nelson and the Tasman district and Picton by Christmas.
As part of the Government's rural broadband initiative, Vodafone is also bringing new mobile and broadband coverage to rural Otago.
A new tower is planned for Naseby and upgrades are planned for existing sites at Cromwell, Tarras, Obelisk, Ranfurly and Roxburgh to improve mobile coverage, speed and capacity.
