Rural Broadband and mobile coverage arrives at Wharepapa

13 August 2013

Rural Broadband and mobile coverage arrives at Wharepapa

Mobile coverage and broadband options just got better for residents and visitors to the Wharepapa South area of Waipa District, as Vodafone lights up its newly built cell site under the Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI).

A 25 metre monopole tower provides service to an estimated 320 households in Wharepapa South. The service delivers not only mobile coverage, but wireless broadband via a high performance modem, adding a WiFi network into the home. Phone calls can also be made through this service by plugging an existing landline phone directly into the modem, removing the need for a landline connection. Customers can port their existing landline number to this new service.

Along with the new RBI site in Wharepapa South, two new towers are planned to be built in the Waipa District over the next three years, including Te Miro and Maihiihi. Jointly these will provide new mobile coverage and wireless broadband for over 900 homes and businesses. Vodafone has already upgraded its existing six sites around Waipa District and built two new towers to deliver the wireless broadband service to rural residents, including its 4G RBI site at Mystery Creek.

Vodafone’s local Franchisee Tim Sullivan says the new cell sites bring greater options to the community, with households and businesses now having choice in broadband service.

“Switching to wireless broadband can provide a consistent and reliable service to residents. It also offers the rural farming community the opportunity to increase production and monitoring through machine-to-machine automation.”
An additional benefit of RBI for rural communities is the extension of mobile coverage to include an estimated 4,500km of rural New Zealand roads, which until now have been without.
“This is a massive benefit for farming districts like Waipa, in dealing with emergencies, transport logistics, road safety and other real life circumstances that have been hampered by limited coverage,” said Sullivan.
Under the five year RBI plan, Vodafone will upgrade 387 existing cell towers and build a further 154 new towers in rural areas all over New Zealand. The government is funding the civil construction costs of these new sites which are designed to accommodate Vodafone equipment and that of other mobile and wireless operators. 47 new sites have been built so far, and an additional 161 have been upgraded meaning new services for over 110,000 addresses in rural New Zealand.

Customers can find out if this service will be available at their address by checking online at
www.vodafone.co.nz/rural-broadband.

More imagery of RBI towers is available, along with a schematic diagram of how wireless broadband works.

For more information please contact:
Vodafone New Zealand Media Relations
0800 VF MEDIA
Vodafone.media@vodafone.com

Notes to editor:

Wireless Broadband will be installed by a Vodafone arranged technician, and installation fees will apply. In the unlikely event your installer determines you may not receive a good experience, the installation will not proceed and you will not be charged.

Vodafone Wireless Broadband Plans and Pricing

Need additional data?
From 26th March customers can purchase an additional 10GB of data for $20

Vodafone Wireless Broadband Calling plans
Wireless Broadband and Calling plans come with a standard per minute calling plan, which includes unlimited local calling and great rates to national and international landlines and mobiles. National calls are 26c per minute, capped at $2.50 per call (for up to 2 hours).

Calls to New Zealand mobiles are 36c per minute.

A great range of calling add-ons are available, including calls to NZ landlines for $20 a month.
For a full list of add-ons and international rates as well as popular phone line features such as voicemail, visit vodafone.co.nz/rural-broadband.

Standard installation charges for Wireless Broadband

Please see www.vodafone.co.nz for more information and for a full list of our terms and conditions.

ENDS

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