World cup for rural connectivity
- : Wireless Internet Service Providers Association of NZ
- :
Saturday’s Rugby World Cup experience shows that New Zealand deserves a Broadband World Cup for getting broadband to its rural communities.
That’s the view of WISPA.NZ, the industry group supporting 28 Wireless Internet Service Providers who collectively provide broadband to an estimated 70,000 mostly rural customers.
“The great news is that WISPs dealt with the surge in traffic almost faultlessly,” WISPA Chairman Mike Smith said. “The problems were with the international link, and with some customer devices. But the part in between worked to perfection.
“WISPs can claim a lot of credit for bringing rural Kiwis in from the broadband boondocks. Tens of thousands of rural homes and businesses now have broadband at city speeds and city prices, with the number increasing daily.
“That’s something we wouldn’t have dreamed of a decade ago. Rural communities in New Zealand have far better broadband than most other Rugby World Cup countries, notably Australia.
“WISPs are committed to finishing the job, with government support, so every rural home and business can enjoy the benefits for social inclusion, entertainment and business. Connectivity to 100% of the community is within our sights.”
ENDS
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BACKGROUND NOTES
· – Most WISPs, or regional telecommunications companies, are locally owned businesses founded in the early 2000s.
· – Initially they used their own capital, but in recent times 17 of them have received government funding through the Rural Broadband Initiative to expand their networks into remote areas that would otherwise be uneconomic.
· – About half WISP connections use “WISP Wireless” – a series of hilltop towers with radios that bounce the Internet signal from one to another, then down to the homes below. The other half are re-sold services from other telcos.
· – WISP wireless requires line of sight visibility. Hence it requires many more towers than cellular services, but these are much lower cost.
- : Mike Smith
- : Chairman
- : mike@ubb.nz
- : 0274503504
- : https://wispa.nz
Beware the Risk 5G Poses to Rural Internet Users
- : WISPA.NZ
- : 02/08/2019
Despite the hype surrounding Vodafone’s launch of the next cellphone technology, it risks a serious downside to thousands of rural broadband users, according to the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA.NZ).
“Vodafone and its competitors are putting huge pressure on Government to reallocate radio spectrum so they can run 5G more cost-effectively,” WISPA Chairman Mike Smith says.
“However, some of the spectrum the mobile companies are trying to claim is already used commercially by about 30 regional WISPs, who collectively service many tens of thousands of rural customers. These customers are farms who use the Internet for business management, rural kids who use it for study, and rural people who depend on it for social inclusion. Most cant get Internet any other way.
“If the government responds to the cellphone companies’ land grab, some of those users could face more expensive Internet or even lose their hard-won connectivity altogether.
“The advantages of 5G are very much in the future. By contrast, WISPs are solving the connectivity issue for rural New Zealand here and now.
“It makes no sense to slow or reverse the progress made in connecting our major export sector, just so that some online games will work a nanosecond faster or city people can connect their home air conditioning to their car GPS. The benefits of 5G are marginal and futuristic, but basic connectivity for rural families and businesses is here, now, and economically essential.
“WISPA seeks a clear assurance from Minister Faafoi that no decision will be made to reallocate spectrum until the issues have been thoroughly aired in public.”
ENDS
Contact: Mike Smith 0274503504 mike@ubb.nz
Alternative: Ernie Newman 0223764363 ernie.newman@wispa.nz
- : Mike Smith
- : Chairman
- : mike@ubb.nz
- : 0274503503
- : https://wispa.nz