Capacity upgrades for congested rural broadband will mean faster internet for some rural households and businesses in Central Otago. 

Crown Infrastructure Partners stakeholder and communications manager Tanya Hansen said there were a number of towers and upgrades to take place under the recently announced Rural Capacity Upgrades (RCU) programme.

The improvements will provide both mobile broadband and wireless broadband coverage. 

“One party is signed already and they are Unifone, a wireless ISP in the Central Otago area.”

Unifone director Glenn Hutton said they were going to be doing work up the Manuherikia valley between Alexandra and Omakau and also between Clyde and Alexandra.

“The RCU programme is targeted to areas where poor broadband performance occurred over lockdown.

“We’ll be addressing older networks that are sagging under the load.

"These heritage networks don’t handle video well.”

Glenn said the work is due to be completed before Christmas time. 

“We will be installing hefty capacity equipment, some of it will be the latest and greatest out of the States." 

Glenn could not share the size of the funding his firm had from the Government to complete the work as it was commercially sensitive.

“I can say it is enough to make a significant difference.

“Everyone is after speed, everyone wants faster and faster speed for things like video content.

“For people outside of towns, this will mean access to high speed internet.”

Crown Infrastructure Partners Ltd Quarterly Connectivity Update September 2021 (pg 20) with detail about $109.5m invested in Central Otago's ultra fast broadband, fibre and mobile black spots. PHOTO: Supplied

Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications David Clark said the Rural Capacity Upgrade would see existing cell towers upgraded and new towers built in rural areas experiencing poor performance, as well as fibre, additional very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) coverage and other wireless technology deployed in congested areas.

“By the end of 2024 around 47,000 rural households and businesses should experience faster internet speeds and better reception than they do right now,” David said.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us reliable internet is critical to being able to work, learn and socialise from our homes.

"Having been through lockdowns, it’s clear some rural networks had real trouble adapting to the extra usage.”

As part of the initiative, 13 private sector contractors have signed contracts with Crown Infrastructure Partners to carry out the work.

The programme will be funded with the $47 million from the Government’s Covid Response and Recovery Fund.

“With these upgrades, rural businesses will have the tools to be more innovative and productive.

"We can also improve health and safety for New Zealanders and their families through remote health consultations, facilitate remote learning and help maintain social and family connections."

At the completion of all current connectivity initiatives in 2024, 99.8 percent of New Zealanders will have seen an improvement to their broadband services.

Under the rural broadband programme, there are number of sites already live in Central Otago.

The sites deployed by the Rural Connetvitiy Group are Moa Creek, Lowborn, Lindis Valley, St Bathans and Patearoa.

The Lindis Pass site should be on air in the second half of this year according to Crown Infrastructure Partners.

Unifone is well established in the industry, supporting critical infrastructure and key businesses throughout Otago and Southland.

It is an Otago-owned and operated company and has been working to deliver the Government's rural broadband initiatives since 2017.