Tasman broadband coverage boosted

High-speed broadband and better mobile phone coverage are enroute for many rural areas across Tasman district.

The Rural Connectivity Group has identified 27 proposed sites in the district under the Rural Broadband Initiative Phase 2 (RBI2) and/or the Mobile Black Spots (MBS) programme.

Connectivity group engagement manager Caitlin Metz, of Auckland, last week told Tasman district councillors the team was in the process of finalising its build partners and equipment suppliers.

‘‘When we get going and we’re getting going next month, we have to be building a cell site every day,’’ Metz said.

The connectivity group was appointed by the Government in August 2017 to build 4G broadband and mobile infrastructure required under RBI2 and MBS funds.

Metz said the task between now and December 2022 was to build 454 cellular sites across New Zealand. The top 400 of those sites would service about 34,000 rural households, while the next 54, which were ‘‘stretch targets’’ if funds allowed, would service another 2500. The team aimed to develop all 454 sites.

‘‘If we only build 400 sites, we’ve failed; that’s how we look at it.’’

There were 32 rural State Highways for which the group’s work would provide ‘‘islands of coverage’’, along with 100 top tourism hot spots.

In Tasman district, 20 proposed sites are part of the top 400 — Maruia West Bank, Bainham, Creighton, Lee Valley Rd, Torrent Bay, Abel Tasman National Park, Kikiwa, Pakawau, Nguroa Bay, Glenhope, Nelson Lakes campsite area, Lake Station, Pohara, Blue Lake, Ariki, Shenandoah, Takaka, Mahana, Matiri and Parapara. Another seven sites were part of the 54 ‘‘stretch targets’’. They are: Puponga, Tadmor Glenhope, Awaroa Bay, Woodstock, Stanley Brook, Redwood Park and Eighty Eight Valley.

Metz said funding for the connectivity group’s work nationally totalled $225 million, made up of $150m from the Telecommunications Development Levy, and $75m from mobile operators Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees.

The three operators put forward a joint bid for the RBI2 and MBS programmes and ‘‘all three parties had to work together to enable this infrastructure to be rolled out’’.