Vodafone delivers on commitment to rural New Zealand

Monday, 21 December 2015, 11:40 am
Press Release: Vodafone

Vodafone delivers on commitment to rural New Zealand

More Kiwis in rural New Zealand have access to better broadband and mobile coverage after another big year of network investment by Vodafone.

Under the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) - which Vodafone delivers in partnership with Chorus and the Government - 30 new cell sites have been built and 27 existing cell sites have been upgraded in the past 12 months.

As part of its own investment in rural New Zealand, Vodafone has built a further 14 rural cell sites and upgraded 125 existing cell sites to 4G.

As a result almost 75 per cent of New Zealanders living in rural areas now have access to wireless broadband connections capable of delivering speeds on par with, or faster than those experienced in urban centres.

Vodafone Technology Director Tony Baird said, “As we’re nearing the end of the RBI build phase it is exciting to see demand for our new mobile and wireless broadband services grow month on month.

“There are more than 700,000 kiwis living and working in rural New Zealand and they all need access to more mobile coverage and faster broadband services – they are the powerhouse of our economy.

“It has been hugely rewarding to learn how different communities and businesses are starting to really benefit from better connectivity in rural New Zealand as a result of this investment”.

Wanaka resident Keith Millar had high speed rural wireless broadband installed at his Alexandra-based stone masonry business, Viblock, earlier this year.

For the past 10 years Keith has run a successful business, although has struggled to take advantage of digital innovations due to his internet connection.

Since upgrading to Vodafone’s 4G Rural Broadband plan, Keith is making use of digital solutions - such as cloud-based accounting - that are saving him time and money.

“After we switched to 4G – everything just worked. A high speed connection makes the working day shorter and helps us stay better connected to our customers. I would recommend that every business checks to see if they are on the best connection possible and if they can upgrade - do it - the benefits are huge and you won’t regret it,” said Keith.

Baird adds, “With Vodafone’s rural broadband network and new coverage innovations, our long-term vision is to reach over 99 percent of places where kiwis live, work and play.
“Earlier in the year we welcomed the Government’s 2025 target of speeds of over 50Mbps to virtually all New Zealanders – and we have the technology roadmap to deliver it.”

Vodafone is well on track to deliver on its RBI contract, bringing the total number of completed RBI cell sites to 154, and upgraded cell sites to 387, ahead of contractual dates.

Upon completion of the programme, over 290,000 homes and businesses in rural New Zealand will have access to high speed wireless broadband and Vodafone’s nationwide mobile network will cover more than 98 per cent of places where New Zealanders live, work and play.

ENDS

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