Spark adds new 4G service to Cook Strait

Key facts

• Spark has upgraded the Baring Head mobile site to 4G providing better, faster coverage to the Cook Strait.

• Last summer Spark saw a 64% year-on-year increase in mobile data use on the Baring Head mobile site.

Spark has added a 4G upgrade to the Baring Head mobile site offering better connectivity to mobile service for people travelling across the Cook Strait.

Travellers and boaties around Baring Head have a strong appetite for data, with an 64% year-on-year increase in data use on Spark’s Baring Head mobile site over the holiday period, 23 December – 7 January, from 2014/2015 to 2015/2016.

Spark expect this year to be even bigger, and has brought additional 4G on the 700MHz spectrum to the mobile site.

Spark’s General Manager of Networks, Colin Brown, says the company is gearing up for this stronger growth as people share more of their adventures across the Cook Strait this summer.

“We want to help Kiwis have an ‘endless summer’ by keeping them connected in more places this festive season, and giving them another excuse to stay away on holiday just that little bit longer.

“The huge increases in data use over the summer period last year shows there’s strong demand for these services at the Baring Head site, and our network upgrades will keep people connected to friends and family, giving them the ability to share their trip travelling across the Cook Strait,” says Brown.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve our mobile network and we’re expecting customers to use even more mobile data while staying in touch and sharing their summer experiences using apps like Skype, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook while on the ferry or boat,” Brown adds.

National upgrades:

To ensure customers right across the country can stay connected to their friends and families throughout the busy summer months, Spark has worked hard over the last couple of months to improve its mobile network in time for Christmas to cater for the expected increase in demand for mobile data.

In the last three months, Spark has delivered 4G upgrades to more than 100 cell sites and there are new cell sites in popular holiday locations including Taupo Bay, Pataua (Northland), Kauaeranga Valley, Manaia, Te Puru (Coromandel), Mt Maunganui Apartments and Bishops Bay (Wanaka).

In addition to this, Spark is rolling in portable cell sites to seven holiday locations across the country to improve capacity in the areas as they see huge increases in visitors.

Portable cell sites are being delivered to Mangawhai, Gisborne (campgrounds), Sandy Bay and Pohara Beach (Tasman District), two sites in Wanaka at Mt Iron and Rippon Estate, and one at the Festival of Lights and Bowl of Brooklands in Taranaki.

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