Rural telecommunications in New Zealand

Fibre passes around 87 percent of New Zealand households, most of them in urban areas. The remaining 13 percent are rural, but this is an arbitrary distinction.

This group includes everything from remote high-country stations to lifestyle blocks just minutes from major cities.

New Zealand is both sparsely populated and highly urbanised. Outside urban centres there are vast tracts of the interior that are dominated by rugged mountain ranges and agricultural land.

Here the population dispersion is so thin that it presents unique logistical and economic hurdles for ground-based telecommunications infrastructure.

While the mobile network covers around 99 percent of where the population lives and works, it covers around half the land mass.

Government initiatives RBI and RBI2

Established in 2011, the original Rural Broadband Initiative is a government-funded programme to improve connectivity outside of the urban areas on the UFB fibre network. At first it used a mix of fixed wireless and upgrades to the copper network.

Over time RBI2 and subsequent extensions were launched to fill the gaps, focusing on even more remote households and "black spots" on state highways.

The Rural Connectivity Group (RCG), a joint venture between the three major mobile carriers, was established to build additional cell towers in areas previously considered commercially unviable. These provide both mobile services and fixed wireless connections.

The towers are open access, meaning the carriers and other service providers can install equipment. Today the towers offer a mix of 4G and 5G mobile coverage along with wireless broadband.

Regional providers and Wisps

Wireless Internet Service Providers (Wisps) are the backbone of rural connectivity. At first these local companies used line-of-sight radio technology to beam internet to remote farmsteads and other rural premises. In some cases they make use of the open access RCG towers.

Many of these regional service providers have matured in recent years. No longer just "wireless" companies, some are now actively building their own fibre-to-the-premise networks in small towns and regional pockets. In part, this is a response to the competitive threat from low Earth orbit satellite broadband.

Yet the transition from wireless to fibre also reflects a growing appetite for "city-grade" speeds in the provinces. In some cases projects require public-private funding partnerships or local government support to reach the most isolated gates.

Copper retirement

Copper services are being withdrawn in areas where fibre is available. The process has started in some rural areas and is expected to complete by 2030. Maintaining copper services is no longer sustainable.

This is pushing rural users to reliance on mobile networks and satellite services. It is controversial in rural communities. There are concerns about emergency calling and reliability in power outages.

Fibre companies would like to push the UFB network further—potentially to 95 percent of household. However, the cost of laying cable in rugged terrain is high. Achieving this would require a shift in government policy settings, likely involving new subsidies or regulatory changes to allow for different funding models.

Emerging challenges and satellites

Low earth orbit satellites have provided relief for many in more remote parts of the country, they are not a complete answer. At times they can cost more than urban fibre for an inferior service.

Remote areas suffer more than urban areas from weather-related outages and when rural services go offline they stay out for longer.

Rural New Zealand is better connected than ever, but a digital divide remains. The focus has shifted from merely getting a signal to ensuring that signal is as fast, reliable and affordable as it is in urban areas.

Further reading

• National Infrastructure Funding and Finance Rural Broadband Programme
• Commerce Commission – Rural Connectivity Study
• Chorus – community co-funded fibre build information

This page is part of a series of background briefings on New Zealand’s telecommunications industry:

• Fibre networks in New Zealand
• Mobile networks in New Zealand
• Satellite communications in New Zealand
• Telecommunications regulation in New Zealand