Ōamaru is one of around 55 regional New Zealand towns in line for faster rollout of 5G, which will provide better mobile wireless coverage for black spots in rural areas.

The Government signed contracts with major telecommunications network operators earlier this month to speed up the rollout of 5G to towns across New Zealand, Digital Economy and Communications minister Ginny Andersen said.

“The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in New Zealand can get access to good mobile wireless coverage – no matter where you are,” she said.

The Government has struck a deal with New Zealand’s three major network operators – Spark, 2Degrees and One New Zealand – which will deliver a faster rollout of 5G services to around rural and regional towns across New Zealand and provide mobile wireless coverage to further rural black spot areas.

“By working together with our major mobile network operators many more Kiwis will gain access to 5G services quicker, which is expected to provide faster data transmission speeds and capacity compared to 4G,” Ginny said. 

“As part of this new agreement, our three major mobile network operators must increase the pace of the 5G roll-out to small towns across New Zealand and to continue their efforts to further expand mobile wireless coverage in rural areas.”

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said this is good news for Ōamaru and the surrounding area from an economic perspective, as it provides faster broadband to a range of users, but there is still more work to be done.

It will provide improved safety with the removal of black spot areas, and access to better internet and communications services will help businesses, especially rural ones, carry out their work more effiiciently.

“It also benefits their customers and helps decrease any rural/urban digital divide.”

Getting services into areas not previously covered, increases people's ability to communicate and access information, and also allows for a much better emergency management service, he said. 

“That helps keep people safe, and allows them to get help when they most need it.

“While this is a good step forward, there is still more work to be done though, with many of our rural communities still not covered under this current initiative. Hopefully that will happen soon,” Gary said.

Ginny said the deal is a “huge step forward” for rural New Zealand when it comes to connectivity.

In return for the commitments from the major network operators, the Government will provide long-term access to the 3.5GHz spectrum band, used for 5G services worldwide, through a direct allocation process. 

This exchange provides an opportunity to expand and improve coverage to regional and rural New Zealand.

New Zealand’s three major operators will each receive 80MHz of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band. This is enough for all three to run nationwide 5G networks.

The Interim Māori Spectrum Commission will receive 100 MHz of spectrum. The Interim Māori Spectrum Commission will manage this spectrum, on behalf of all Māori.

This agreement builds on the $60 million allocated through last year’s budget for rural connectivity improvements, as well as the $47 million of rural capacity upgrades that commenced in February, last year.

“This is a significant win for rural and regional New Zealand. I am certain that Kiwis, especially those living in regional and rural areas, will soon reap the benefits coming out of this allocation,” Ginny said.

Long-term rights to the 3.5GHz spectrum band for 5G services will come into effect from 1 July 2023, as the short-term rights that were extended in October 2022 come to an end.

In return for the allocated spectrum, Spark, One New Zealand and 2Degrees will each pay the government $24 million between 2023 and 2025. This funding will be used to pay the Rural Connectivity Group to expand mobile coverage into areas of rural New Zealand which would not otherwise have been provided with coverage commercially (for example, rural areas where there are mobile black spots). This funding is additional to the value of the works required to provide 5G to towns.

Dense Air New Zealand, which is a current interim holder of 3.5GHz spectrum rights and had previously been in negotiations with the government for long-term rights to the 3.5GHz spectrum, has since decided to withdraw from the process.

Further information is available on the Radio Spectrum Management website.