One NZ, 2degrees mobile and internet outages reported in North and South islands

Cellphone and internet services are disrupted across a large chunk of the country.

The mobile and broadband outages are affecting some One NZ customers across the lower North Island, South Island and Stewart Island. Some 2degrees customers are also affected.

Technical problems had taken down around 90 cell towers operated by the Rural Connectivity Group, a joint venture between Spark, One NZ and 2degrees that has built towers around rural and provincial New Zealand, a 2degrees spokesman said.

The issue had affected all three telcos, he said.

Coverage issues were affecting 2degrees mobile and wireless broadband customers across the South Island and lower North Island, according to the network status page on 2degrees website.

“Engineers are working diligently to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

2degrees customers across the country may also be experiencing issues with top ups and other related purchasing services.

A OneNZ spokeswoman told the Herald an “intermittent issue” was affecting some mobile and broadband services across the lower North Island and parts of the South Island.

“This means some customers are experiencing interrupted service, which means their internet or calls may be dropping out.

“We’re sorry for the disruption, and our teams are working hard to get everything back up and running as quickly as possible.”

Some 2degrees customers are also affected by mobile and internet outages. Photo / John Weekes

Eligible customers could stay connected using WhatsApp calling, messaging and data through One NZ’s satellite service, she said.

“We’ve also opened One NZ Satellite access to more customers in the affected areas to help keep people connected.”

The disruption was logged at 3am, with a “TBC” (to be confirmed) fix time, according to the One NZ website’s network status page.

A map showed outages had been reported from Whanganui south to Wellington in the North Island, across the entire South Island and on Stewart Island.

The Spark outages map shows a handful of mobile outages in Rangitīkei and Manawatū.

Spark has been contacted for comment.

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