15 October 2013

Telecom’s increasing investment in the Waikato

Telecom continues to invest in expanding its mobile network across the Waikato with over one million dollars spent which will improve mobile coverage and capacity in Livingston West, Te Miro, Te Kowhai West and Cobham Drive.

This investment enables locals and visitors to the Waikato access to voice, mobile broadband and text services over the mobile network it has built specifically for smart phones.

These installations have improved coverage and capacity to the region.

The increased coverage in Livingston West, Te Miro, Te Kowhai West and Cobham Drive is part of Telecom's commitment to bringing data and mobility to rural communities. Telecom is co-locating on all of the Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative sites where it doesn’t already have coverage, and also has an ongoing programme of new mobile site builds and upgrades to improve coverage and capacity.

Terry Youngman, CEO Anexa Animal Health, one of Waikato’s largest rural veterinary practices, is delighted with the increased coverage in rural areas.

“It certainly makes our day to day activities more efficient when we can be in contact with our farmers whilst they are working on the farm, rather than only hearing from them once they are back at the house. Increased coverage also allows our vets to utilise email delivery to smartphones to receive information such as lab test results, giving farmers faster feedback” he says.

Emma Blackmore, Telecom Communications Manager says telecommunications now plays a vital role in rural New Zealand, with people and rural businesses becoming increasingly reliant on their mobile phones as their primary form of connectivity.

“Fast broadband and mobile services are crucial for the success of rural businesses, education, health providers, and in bringing rural communities together,” she says.

In addition Telecom has 15 WiFi hotspots across the Waikato in Raglan, Huntly, Ngaruwahia, Hamilton, Cambridge, Tirau, Te Awamutu and Tokoroa.

Telecom has been trialling free WiFi hotspots across the country since Christmas 2012 and the free WiFi will continue for Telecom mobile customers on a Pay Monthly and $19 and $29 Prepaid Value Pack.

If you’re not a Telecom customer you can still access the WiFi network for a small monthly fee. To find your nearest WiFi hotspot go to www.telecom.co.nz/whatsnew/freetelecomwifizone

To find out more about the Telecom Mobile Network and the coverage in your area, please visit, or visit one of your local stores; 201 Victoria Street, Hamilton/L2, Westfield Mall, Chartwell or 77B Victoria Street, Cambridge

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Telecom New Zealand

NZ's telecommunications and IT service provider

Telecom New Zealand Limited provides mobile, broadband and IT services to more than two million New Zealanders every day, as well as in Australia. Telecom is undergoing a major strategic shift. In a world in which being connected anywhere anytime matters more than ever, Telecom is focused on reinventing itself to deliver communications, entertainment and IT services over our networks and the Cloud in a way that New Zealanders love. This means building a deep understanding of fast changing customer needs and having a lean and competitive business model that is agile enough to move at pace.

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