The Mobile Black Spots Programme will improve the availability of mobile services to support safety on state highways and enhance visitor experience at key tourist destinations, which do not currently have coverage from any mobile operator.
This is to ensure that as many Kiwis as possible can share in the social and economic benefits mobile coverage offers, and to improve travel safety and emergency response capability in rural areas.
Mobile coverage currently covers areas where over 95 per cent of New Zealand’s population live and work.
As all three established mobile operators – 2degrees, Spark and Vodafone – will be able to access the Mobile Blackspots sites all mobile customers will be able to share in the benefits of this improved coverage, regardless of their chosen provider.
The Mobile Blackspots network will be substantially completed by end of 2024.
The programme is grant funded from the Telecommunications Development Levy, an industry levy collected from telecommunications providers to deliver services not available commercially or otherwise at an affordable price.
State Highways
CIP has contractedto build mobile coverage for over 1,000 kilometres of state highways by 2022. For State Highways the top priority is to deliver coverage to the longest black spots, black spots with the highest traffic volumes, and those with the highest vehicle crash rates.
Tourism Locations
CIP has contracted to buildmore than 100 tourist areas by 2022. Tourism areas were prioritised on the basis of visitor numbers per annum based on the International Visitor Survey
Broadband extended to 99.8% of the population
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83,861 rural households and businesses
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1,405km of State Highways
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133 tourism areas
In 2018, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister Kris Faafoi announced that significant additional rural broadband and mobile coverage will be deployed around the country over the next four years due to the expansion of the Rural Broadband Programme/Mobile Black Spots programme.
Click here for the press release.