Since 2011, Vodafone has built 154 new rural cell sites around New Zealand in partnership with the Government and Chorus, with this final cell site delivered three months ahead of schedule.
The RBI allows network access for rural New Zealand communities, providing better connectivity for households and businesses.
Waipu Four Square owner and former Vodafone Warrior’s Captain, Steve Price said the new Waipu cell site will have a positive impact on the local community.
“Waipu is a great town with a proud, industrious history and I’m looking forward to watching the local business people harness the power of rural broadband to innovate and grow their businesses,” Steve said.
“We’re really no different to any other urban centre when it comes to the way we use wireless technology. Our phones and computers are an essential part of life and business, whether it is keeping in contact with our family or suppliers, or placing stock orders and doing our accounting in the cloud. We’re pretty excited by what this new cell site will mean for Waipu,” he said.
Communications Minister Hon. Amy Adams attended an event in Waipu on June 2 to mark the completion of the RBI build programme.
Also at the event, demonstrating their innovative on-farm equipment, were technology companies Blackhawk Tracking and UBCO.
Blackhawk Tracking spokesperson James Oliver said their connected technology services are designed to keep farmers safe no-matter where they worked.
“The Blackhawk systems we use in UBCO’s electric bikes incorporate GPS tracking, which is great for mentoring new drivers, but more importantly, should the vehicle overturn an SOS is automatically sent back to base so help can be sent to that driver ASAP. And in the event the electric bikes are stolen, farmers can also locate them on Googlemaps and disable them from their smartphone,” James said.
Blackhawk’s cellular solution uses Vodafone’s global SIM and is installed in UBCO’s electric bikes at manufacture in China. The Vodafone global SIM works as a local SIM around the world wherever it roams. This makes use of Vodafone’s largest fully owned network in over 30 Vodafone countries plus a further 50 countries through the company’s extensive partner and affiliate programme.
Tauranga based company GPS-it also demonstrated their innovative drone solutions which can be used to map farms and orchards, and record crop density from above. They provide producers with information to support crop production and planning. GPS-it also demonstrated how they can provide real time video analytics for coaches looking to take their teams to the next level.
GPS-it spokesperson Matt Flowerday said, “Extended network coverage across rural New Zealand means we can take data captured by the drones and send it back to our office or direct to customers quickly from our truck, from some fairly remote places. The RBI has been great for our business, and we hope to see this connectivity stretch even further around the country in future.”
Vodafone’s CEO Russell Stanners, said connectivity and access to high-speed broadband has become essential for Kiwis living and working in rural areas.
“Being connected regionally, nationally and internationally ensures rural businesses remain competitive and keep innovating, just as the teams from GPS-it, UBCO and Blackhawk Tracking have demonstrated today,” he said.
“Vodafone remains committed to extended coverage to rural New Zealand, and we will continue to invest in our network so all our customers gain access to the same benefits and opportunities as those living in urban areas”.
Find out if your property is in reach of rural wireless broadband today by visiting: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/rural/
