Spark gives heartland priority in 5G rollout

Five South Island regions will get an early Christmas present of 5G wireless broadband.

Spark has announced it is extending its 5G service to five unnamed South Island regions before Christmas, adding to its launch to a limited number of business and consumer clients in Alexandra in September.

Spark has said previously that the rollout to other South Island locations will also initially be ‘‘invitation only’’.

Other heartland locations will be added in March next year, ahead of major centres which will receive a wider mobile and broadband service mid-next year.

Spark is racing to compete with Vodafone, which surprised the industry by announcing 5G services to major centres in December, using a legacy spectrum from TelstraClear.

Spark’s plans are subject to spectrum becoming available from the Government, which has invited telcos to bid for shortterm rights to unallocated spectrum in the key 3.5GHz band.

Mark Beder, Spark’s technology director, said wireless broadband was the initial focus of its two-stage 5G rollout.

‘‘First, we are advancing our network delivery plans so we can roll out quickly in major centres once the necessary spectrum becomes available. Second, we are innovating by repurposing some of our existing spectrum to deliver 5G wireless broadband in places where it will make a real difference to customers.’’

Beder said heartland New Zealand was a priority as it had traditionally lagged behind in previous rollouts. In Alexandra, which was chosen for its high broadband uptake, tests had shown speeds for 5G wireless broadband were five to 10 times faster than for 4G.

The rollout would use existing spectrum bands and Nokia Radio Access Network or RAN equipment.