Expanding wireless coverage in a Woosh

Woosh chief executive Bob Smith says the company is building a network to accommodate hundreds of thousands of users. Picture / Richard Robinson

Wireless high-speed internet provider Woosh is preparing for an expected spike in demand with a purchase that will nearly triple its existing broadcast hardware base.

The Auckland-based company has purchased 180 base stations - the key components in cell sites, which are effectively wireless internet broadcasters - from US technology partner IPWireless.

Woosh chief executive Bob Smith said the stations would create new cell sites and cater for increased demand in existing sites.

"We're pre-planning ... as sites come on or we need more demand, we've got them there ready to go."

Smith said the purchase covered forecast demand "for quite a period".

Woosh currently operates about 100 base stations in more than 80 cell sites.

Each cell site is made up of an antenna with up to six base stations providing the transmission signal.

Adding base stations to an existing site boosts capacity and coverage.

Although the cost of the stations was not disclosed, Smith described the order as "a very big purchase".

"It's part of the plan we presented to everyone saying we're continuing to roll out new coverage and we've got customer demand coming on."

Woosh had previously disclosed losses for the year to June 30 last year of $18.9 million, of which operating losses accounted for $13.9 million, on sales revenue of $5.9 million.

Continued network and infrastructure development could continue this trend, the company said.

However, Smith said the company was on track with its business plan.

"With these sort of businesses you factor into your business case operating losses like that as you scale the business up. We're still sort of in that mode."

Woosh, which evolved out of Walker Wireless, provides high-speed internet services in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Invercargill.

Three new sites unveiled last week in Christchurch increased coverage by 11,500 households and businesses and brought total coverage in the city to almost 18,000.

Smith said Christchurch was a vital element in national expansion plans.

"This means our business customers have the ability to roam between New Zealand's main business centres - Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch."

Coverage and accessibility are key infrastructure elements that have driven expansion, including the purchase of the base stations.

Woosh coverage now extends to more than 10,000 homes and businesses in Southland, more than 37,000 in Wellington and about 70 per cent of the Auckland region.

Woosh says its customer base doubled to 10,000 in the six months to February, which is a significant trend but still a small proportion of the households now within reach.

New packages were launched earlier this year, ranging from $29.95 to $69.95, aimed at enticing New Zealand's predominantly wired, dial-up internet users to switch to high-speed wireless.

Woosh also said it was committed to building a network capable of accommodating hundreds of thousands of users.

Enabling users to make telephone calls using their already-paid-for internet service could prove the trigger for the mass customer uptake aimed for by Woosh.

Smith said tests for a voice service were "going well," but could not say when the service might be available.

The unlisted company has so far raised $120 million of capital from shareholders, including private equity fund Intellectual Capital Partners, Todd Capital, Clarity Partners and The Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall.