NZ hits major rural connectivity milestone

Wellington - New Zealand has hit a major milestone in improving connectivity for rural and remote households and businesses, as 400 mobile towers have been delivered by the Rural Connectivity Group (RCG).

In the wake of cyclone Gabrielle, it is crucial to have access to reliable mobile and internet services,” minister for the digital economy and communications Ginny Andersen say.

“This is why government remains committed to ensuring that more rural homes, businesses and communities can access fast, reliable broadband connectivity regardless of where they live, study, and work.

“These towers, funded by the government’s Rural Broadband Initiative, provide essential broadband and mobile coverage to more rural and remote communities across New Zealand.”

Government has invested in a range of programmes to improve connectivity across New Zealand. As of December 2022, the Government’s connectivity programmes have delivered:

•            Nearly 1211 km of state highway have gained mobile coverage

•            114 tourism spots have mobile coverage

•            More than 600 marae have been connected to broadband

•            Around 80,000 rural homes and businesses now have access to improved broadband.

An additional $43 million for further rural capacity upgrades means more than $100 million has been allocated to improving the capacity of rural broadband across New Zealand. This work will be completed within the next three years and will benefit around 69,000 households and businesses.

In addition to the RCG, government has partnered with 15 wireless internet service providers (WISPs) across the country to deliver rural broadband coverage under the Rural Broadband Initiative. These partners provide wireless rural broadband to remote and rural areas.

Of note:

•            The rural connectivity group (RCG) is a joint entity among New Zealand’s three mobile network operators - Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees to acquire site locations, build, operate and maintain the rural wireless network built under the rural broadband initiative phase 2 (RBI2) and the mobile black spot fund.

•            RCG plays an important role to deploy connectivity infrastructure in rural New Zealand, partnering with crown infrastructure partners.

•            The new RCG sites are the result of an industry collaboration between the three mobile network operators and crown infrastructure partners to build over 500 cell sites across rural New Zealand delivering essential broadband and mobile services.

•            The mobile blackspot fund is a programme that is making mobile coverage available to state highway blackspots, where there is currently no mobile coverage, high traffic and high incident rates to support public safety. It is also being deployed to tourism locations around New Zealand where there is currently no mobile coverage, to support tourism and economic growth.