They are services many of us have used nearly every day for most of our lives, yet very few of us know who provides them.
For the last six decades state-owned enterprise Kordia has been building, managing and operating critical telecommunications networks throughout the country. Every time you turn on your TV to watch free-to-air programmes or switch on the FM radio in your car, there’s a good chance that Kordia’s infrastructure is providing your signal.
“People use services we deliver every day but don’t realise it,” says Brent La Franchie, Kordia’s executive general manager, Field Solutions. “We’ve been this kind of secret for a very long time.”
Kordia has played a significant role in keeping New Zealanders entertained, informed and connected since the early days of national TV broadcasting back in the 1960s. It owns and operates a network of over 200 transmission towers, including 50 high lattice towers, that were originally built to let Kiwis watch this amazing new invention, television. Today the organisation still delivers TV and radio as well as other vital services, including cellular connectivity and cyber security, used by individuals, businesses and government organisations.
Four of Kordia’s towers have achieved the notable milestone of turning 60 this year. Located in Waiatarua (Auckland), Wharite Peak (Manawatū), Kaukau (Wellington) and Sugarloaf (Canterbury), they’ve withstood several natural disasters and extreme weather events, says La Franchie.
“In the Christchurch earthquake a number of cellular sites went down but our main site, Sugarloaf, remained online so cellular and broadcast services were still there for customers in the region. In the Kaikōura earthquake our digital microwave radio network kept networks up and running while others were broken,” he says.
During Cyclone Gabrielle, La Franchie says, Kordia’s sites were still up when others weren’t thanks to their engineering and backup generators, so the organisation was able to leverage its networks to help other telco partners get services up and running – even during power, mobile and fibre outages. Kordia’s sites are designed to Importance Level 4 [the level to which essential structures must be built to survive a natural disaster intact], so they should be the last thing standing.
“Our high sites were built well in the first place, but there’s a significant amount of investment every year into our tower infrastructure to keep it up and running. We have a really talented team of structural engineers, electrical engineers and technicians – over 100 people based all around the country who keep our towers going.”
Over the years, as well as increasing the number of towers to give coverage throughout the country, Kordia has moved with the times to provide updated services and new technology. Those 60 years since the first towers were erected have seen the advent of FM radio, digital television, the internet, mobile phones, fibre, 5G and the Cloud, and using its resilient infrastructure and staff expertise, Kordia has been able to offer a range of telecommunications solutions when it comes to these developments. It also helps to keep people safe.
“Maritime communications and safety of life is a big part of what we do,” explains La Franchie. “We operate and maintain a VHF radio maritime network on behalf of Maritime NZ that covers a huge area – from halfway to South Africa and halfway to South America, up to the Equator and down to Antarctica. We effectively cover a quarter of the world’s oceans.
“We operate two Maritime Operation Centres to handle safety of life communications coming in through radio, so if you make a mayday call on Channel 16, it will be one of our operators who deals with it, either in Wellington or in Canberra, where we provide the service on behalf of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.”
Keeping customers safe from cybercrime is something else Kordia does. It has steadily grown its cyber security business and runs a 24/7, 365 days per year cyber defence operation. “We could see that cyber defence went hand-in-glove with our mission critical networks. Our customers need those networks to not only be reliable but also secure, and with cybercrime being an increasing problem, we’ve invested heavily in people and tools.” Kordia offers advice on how businesses can stay cyber resilient, La Franchie says, as well as having “eyes on glass 24/7″.
Kordia provides communications and related solutions to a huge variety of customers from government agencies and commercial enterprises through to emergency services, and there are all kinds of opportunities for growth in the future. For example, Kordia’s expertise when it comes to digital microwave radio is very useful to international defence forces who want to make sure they still have ways of communicating should something happen to the satellites they use.
“Militaries around the world are hugely invested in satellites but they are also looking at what else they can use for communications if there is a conflict, because one of the first things to go would be satellite communications. There’s now investment in radio communications, which are more resilient, and we have been leaned on to help.”
La Franchie says Kordia takes great pride in being able to use its skills to make a difference whether that’s at home or overseas. For example, when a huge lattice tower located 30m from a major highway and 30m from a housing development in Sydney needed to be safely taken down, Kordia was asked to do the job. “The Aussies came to us for our expertise because we are renowned for it.”
He adds, “I’m really proud of the people in this organisation. When the Vanuatu earthquake struck just before Christmas I had people putting their hands up to go over there and help them get their broadcasting organisations back online, even though it meant sacrificing time with their families. They knew how important their engineering knowledge and skills were. When the InterIslander ferry lost power and was drifting and declared a mayday, our operators helped co-ordinate the communications between the vessel and the rescue response team. When something is needed from a comms perspective, our people stand up and get it done.”
Find out more about how Kordia keeps New Zealand connected at Kordia.co.nz.