Vodafone's rollout is ahead of target, says Head of Networks Tony Baird.
As New Zealand gets serious about bringing 21st Century connectivity to the rural sector, the buck doesn't stop with the fixed line Rural Broadband Initiative. Alongside the Rural Broadband Initiative, the roll out of fourth generation (4G) mobile spectrum and networks is well under way - not exclusively for those in major urban centres, but rural too.
Head of Networks for Vodafone, Tony Baird says getting 4G to the rural sector is a significant step forward not just for the rural sector, but all of New Zealand.
"As of March this year we are covering just over 187,000 address points and we want that number to be over 240,000 by March next year," explains Baird. That places Vodafone well ahead of the Government's target.
Under the agreement, Vodafone is responsible for building 154 new cell sites and upgrading 387 existing rural sites. All have to be capable of co-location for more than one carrier, so that Telecom, 2 Degrees and possibly a fourth provider in the future could all operate from the same infrastructure.
At present 86 of the 154 sites set for construction have been completed, with 42 more planned to go live this financial year. And 262 of the 387 upgrades planned have also been completed, with a further 40 planned for this year to bring the total to over 300.
"While we already have 4G operating in New Zealand, the pieces of spectrum which they operate on at the moment are pretty good in the cities, but would be very difficult to roll out on a large geographic basis. This meant that we couldn't get it to rural areas," explains Communications Minister Amy Adams.
"The 700-megahertz block of spectrum which was just auctioned is so highly prized because it has very good propagation characteristics. In practice, what that means is that you can get a lot more coverage from single towers and it becomes much more cost-effective to roll out 4G coverage across vast areas of New Zealand."
Previously the 700-megahertz spectrum was allocated to analogue television, but with the Government officially ending those broadcasts in favour of high definition, digital television, the 700-megahertz band was opened.
"When we were completing the auction terms we made a decisions as a Government that, rather than go for the biggest dollar value we could get for selling the spectrum, we wanted instead to include implementation requirements to make sure 4G connectivity was going to be available to rural New Zealand."
Under the terms of the auction, all successful bidders who bought three or four lots of spectrum were required to build five or 10 new cell sites each year for five years in which they do not currently provide mobile coverage using their own infrastructure.
Successful bidders already operating mobile networks were also required to upgrade 75 per cent of their existing 850/900-megahertz 2G/3G sites in rural areas to 4G sites using 700 megahertz within five years.
The upshot is that in five years time, 90 per cent of New Zealanders will have access to 4G mobile connectivity. But, with a $300 million state investment in the Rural Broadband Initiative, was the additional rollout of enhanced mobile data capabilities a justifiable expenditure?
"Our argument has always been that getting fibre to the farm isn't what rural people want. They want high capacity broadband to the home for running their accounts and surfing the internet, but they really want mobility, because farmers tend to be out on their land and out of range for those fixed line connections," says Baird.
"I see rural broadband as starting off with 3G and evolving to 4G and even 5G in the future," he says.
"By having the physical infrastructure in place provided through RBI, it provides a platform for scaleability to support existing and future technologies. You've got to start somewhere, you can't always wait for the next technology around the corner. What we have built is absolutely scalable to the 4G and 5G worlds."
Adams says the services went hand in hand and were both necessary. "It's not a case of one or the other, they are absolutely complementary programmes.
"The reality for a lot of us, especially in rural communities, is that business happens on the go and you definitely need those mobile components. They don't work nearly as well without the money being spent on the core infrastructure work."
The statistics
• 88% of 4G users have used the portable hot spot feature on their handset
• 4G users are 87% more likely to stream music than 3G users
• 4G users are 74% more likely to stream video than 3G users
• 24% of 4G users access social media more than 20 times a week
• 4G users stream 4 times more content than 3G users
• 4G users are 2 times more likely to buy online than 3G users
• Interestingly, the biggest 4G users don't necessarily live in Auckland or Wellington.
• When we launched 4G in New Plymouth, we saw a massive 400% increase in data usage, compared to 30% or 40% increases in other areas.
Based on research compiled 12 months after launch.
As part of the Rural Broadband Initiative, Vodafone has needed to get creative with how it implements and installs the infrastructure required for mobile cell sites. On Great Barrier Island, Vodafone installed a completely off the grid RBI site - with a combination of solar power, windmill power and batteries
"It's the most expensive, but also the greenest cell site which you will ever find," explained Tony Baird, Vodafone's Head of Networks. "This has been one of our more technically challenging projects, being 90km from the mainland, without mains power and in a beautiful yet rugged area."
"By following sustainable practices throughout the build, such as minimising earth disturbance and retaining maximum bush shelter, and designing an energy system that will ensure a reliable power supply to the tower, we're confident that we've stayed true to the ethos of the Barrier."
Urban drift has undoubtedly been a factor in New Zealand for the agriculture sector, which struggles to fill job vacancies despite relatively high unemployment rates nationally. Tony Baird, Vodafone's Head of Networks is confident, however that the RBI and 4G rollout into rural areas will help attract new people back to farms.
"Central Auckland, Central Wellington - they're both dependent on a strong agricultural economy. The rural sector has an increasing need for labour, but a decreasing labour pool. There's still urban drift and a lot of that occurs because the opportunities for education and newer technologies are available in the city. There's a huge social component to it," says Baird.
Beyond attracting new workers to the sector, the rollout of high-spec mobile and broadband data networks helps relieve some of the pressure felt through the loss of workers in efficiency gains.
"The mechanisation and automation of the rural sector really will help to compensate for the migration of rural people to urban areas and assist in attracting new workers to the sector. A vibrant rural economy . . . is absolutely reliant on good communications."
Increasingly, applications on smartphones combined with innovative technology is replacing, or at lest decreasing, the number of staff required to operate farms.
"Where people were previously required to monitor land, stock and equipment around the clock, smart devices are able to keep track of themselves and send alerts for important information.
"Machine to machine uptake is getting really big in rural New Zealand. There's quite a few applications which really are starting to deliver the results people envisioned many years ago," says Baird.
"From managing and protecting your crop, to compliance management and raw efficiency of pick up and delivery.
"All are simple uses of machine to machine technology enabled by mobile which make a substantial difference in the day to day life of those in the rural sector."
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