Emergencies behind 3G shutdown pause

In this edition:

• 3G shutdown paused after weather emergencies
• HPE deal brings 2degrees AI and data sovereignty
• Tū Ātea Group subsidiary Broadtech acquires TransWorks

3G shutdown on hold after emergencies

2degrees has put a one-week hold on its 3G network shutdown plans as parts of the country face weather emergencies.

The company says it is being cautious with severe weather continuing to affect people in North Island areas including Northland, Thames-Coromandel, Hauraki, Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti. There are still official states of emergency along with the risk of further slips and road closures.

Emergency access concerns

While the number of customers remaining on 3G networks is now small, in the region of one to two percent, late switchers are disproportionately located in the weather-affected districts. Removing services could restrict people’s ability to call 111.

2degrees turned off 3G services at around 100 rural sites in December. Earlier this month it halted 3G services in Palmerston North and Rotorua.

One New Zealand started its 3G network shutdown last week in Dunedin.

While One NZ was not planning to close 3G on its own towers in any of the affected districts, the company has delayed shutting down 3G services on Rural Connectivity Group towers in affected parts of the country.

All three telcos are in the process of closing their 3G networks. By the end of March, there will no longer be any 3G services.

Spark sees traffic slow as 3G shutdown nears

Spark says 3G voice traffic is down 70% in January 2026, this compares with when the company announced its network shutdown in June 2025. At the time, the telco began an information campaign to prepare customers for the change.

The shutdown was originally planned to take place in 2025, but is now due to complete by the end of March 2026.

Usage continues to fall

Data traffic on the 3G network has fallen by 50% over the same period. Meanwhile, data traffic on the company’s 4G and 5G networks is up 17% and 37% respectively.

General manager of network evolution Michael Malony says Spark has been communicating the shutdown with customers for several years. “...thousands have already taken action as 3G usage continues to decline, with now just 2% of all devices on our network, including IoT, still relying on 3G.”

Spark says it has worked with the Digital Equity Coalition Aotearoa (DECA) to support at-risk and digitally excluded customers through the transition.

2degrees chooses Hewlett-Packard Enterprise for AI

A deal between 2degrees and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise aims to accelerate AI-based innovation and improve New Zealand’s data sovereignty. It follows the telco’s sovereign satellite deal with AST Spacemobile which keeps data traffic in New Zealand’s jurisdiction.

2degrees will use a AI system built using HPE’s private cloud. The goal is to modernise and simplify the telco’s technology while improving security. The system will store critical customer and operational data in New Zealand.

Among other things, 2degrees will use AI for autonomous network operations, predictive maintenance and capacity planning.

2degrees CTO Stephen Kurzeja says the company is already seeing results. “For example, local AI is a critical enabler for AI-driven network operations with multiple local AI agents moving us toward a smarter, more resilient and increasingly self-driving network that better serves customers across New Zealand.”

In December, One New Zealand said it is testing two agentic AI tools built using Amazon’s Bedrock.

Broadtech bulks up with Transworks

Auckland-based Tū Ātea Group subsidiary Broadtech has acquired telecoms, IT and electrical services contractor TransWorks.

Broadtech says the deal adds national scale and in-house delivery capability to its operations. “TransWorks brings nearly three decades of experience in network build, ICT and electrical services, strengthening Tū Ātea’s move from spectrum ownership into end-to-end infrastructure delivery.”

In other news:

• Jeff Bezos announced Blue Origin: yet another satellite network — BBC.
  A separate project to Amazon Leo, both part of Bezos’ wider strategy.
• Are you ready to start thinking about 6G? — Light Reading.
  Brace yourself to hear a lot more about 6G during 2026.
• New Zealand government investing in quantum and photonics — RNZ
  ‌$1.35 million doesn’t seem much considering what is at stake here.
• French authorities to ban Teams, Zoom, other video apps for government use — Computerworld
  Getting off US technology is a move to improve security and a move towards tech sovereignty.

Paramount deal gives Sky more premium shows

Sky Television says its new rights deal with Paramount, the US studio, will give its satellite and streaming customers access to recently released premium shows. This includes the spin-offs from Yellowstone, which Sky says has been popular with subscribers.

The deal will reduce Sky’s dependence on Warner Bros Discovery. At the end of last year Sky’s share price dropped when rival Netflix announced its bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery. While that deal is yet to complete, Sky investors have been concerned Warner Bros could bypass its New Zealand partner and go direct to the market. It already does this elsewhere in the world.

Online hate speech zeros in on victims

Research carried out by Netsafe found that 12% of New Zealanders were targeted by online hate speech last year.

CEO Brent Carey says the nature of online hate speech faced by New Zealanders is changing: “It’s becoming more closely tied to identity and politics. It’s hitting the same communities again and again. That’s not accidental — it reflects
wider global trends and a lack of effective safeguards at home.”

While there is little interest from the New Zealand government in dealing with hate speech, Australia has moved to fast track anti-hate speech legislation.

This time last year submarine cable security was in the spotlight

In what looked like a hybrid-war incident, ships cut important submarine cables in the Baltic Sea. This prompted a look at the security of cables connecting New Zealand to the world.

Five years ago, New Zealand’s UFB network reached an important milestone when fibre uptake passed two-thirds. At the time the network was 90% complete.

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