New Zealand’s three wireless players – Vodafone, Telecom New Zealand and 2degrees – today emerged as winners in the country’s 700 MHz spectrum auction.
Telecom and Vodafone each successfully bid NZ$66 million (US$54.6m) for three blocks of 2×15 MHz,…
New Zealand’s three wireless players – Vodafone, Telecom New Zealand and 2degrees – today emerged as winners in the country’s 700 MHz spectrum auction.
Telecom and Vodafone each successfully bid NZ$66 million (US$54.6m) for three blocks of 2×15 MHz, while 2degrees received two lots of 2×10 MHz at a price of NZ$44 million (US$36.4m).
The government is set decide in the next few weeks whether to auction at a later date one 2×5 MHz block of spectrum that remains unsold.
Communications and information technology minister Amy Adams hailed the auction as “successful”, adding that: “While 2degrees has bid for slightly less spectrum than Telecom and Vodafone, internationally we have seen that 2×10 MHz is sufficient to run a viable 4G network and provide much faster data speeds to mobile customers.”
The 700 MHz spectrum has been freed up for new uses following the switchover to digital television. By using the spectrum for 4G mobile networks, New Zealand expects economic benefits of up to NZ$2.4 billion for the country over the next twenty years.
Rollout conditions include the necessity for operators to upgrade at least 75% of their existing rural 2G and 3G mobile infrastructure to 4G capability within five years.
The aim is to ensure that at least 90% of New Zealanders have access to 4G by 2018, Adams previously said.
According to local reports, the 4G auction has faced opposition from the Maori population, which claims ownership over the spectrum, referring to the Treaty of Waitangi. The treaty, signed in 1840, recognised Maori ownership over unspecified lands and other resources.
The case is currently before the Waitangi Tribunal but Adams had previously been quoted as saying that she believed the treaty does not give the Maori population rights to the spectrum.
