MEDIA RELEASE - It might only make up 1.1 per cent of New Zealand’s population, but Papakura has raced ahead to become the first district to receive superfast 4G mobile technology with 700MHz spectrum.

Vodafone was the first telecommunications company to roll out 4G in New Zealand, and the first to successfully trial rural 4G using 700MHz spectrum at Lake Brunner on the West Coast of the South Island last year.

Last week, Vodafone became the first to launch a commercial 4G service using 700MHz – freed up from the Government’s Digital Dividend auction – which delivers greater reach and better in-building coverage than other frequencies, making it ideal for deployment to rural areas like Papakura.

Vodafone’s Director of Technology, Sandra Pickering says kicking off the commercial 4G rollout to rural New Zealand is a major milestone.

“There’s no question that 4G – particularly in rural areas – will deliver economic benefit and have strong impacts for productivity.

“Our focus this year is about expanding our 4G network to rural New Zealand with 700MHz. We’ll be activating 4G wherever possible on new Rural Broadband Initiative sites this year.”

Sandra continues: “In addition to a progressive upgrade of our existing sites with 700MHz, we will also be building a number of new sites each year to further improve our coverage.”

Vodafone’s 4G network provides speeds up to 10 times faster than standard 3G services*, allowing customers to make better use of superfast mobile data for mobile farming applications.

Kiwis wanting to experience the speed of 4G delivered over 700MHz will need a 4G-capable device** with the latest software, a qualifying plan and be in a 4G coverage area. The device seamlessly switches to Vodafone’s next fastest 3G speeds when customers leave the 4G coverage area.