Spark welcomes mobile spectrum rights renewal

Spark New Zealand Limited
ARBN 050 611 277 Spark City, 167 Victoria Street West, Private Bag 92028, Auckland, New Zealand


MARKET RELEASE
15 March 2019

Spark New Zealand welcomes Government announcement on
renewal of existing mobile spectrum rights

Spark New Zealand welcomes the Government’s announcement that, as expected, it will
renew all the rights held by mobile network operators in the 2100 MHz spectrum band and
most of the rights held by mobile network operators 1800 MHz spectrum band. The
Government is holding aside a portion of existing rights in the 1800 MHz spectrum band
for potential use by emergency services.
The current rights Spark and other mobile network operators hold in these spectrum
bands are due to expire in 2021. The renewal rights offered by the Government will be for
a 20-year term out to 2041.
Spark General Manager of Regulatory Affairs John Wesley-Smith said the Government
has offered Spark renewal rights for 40 MHz in the 1800 MHz band (currently Spark holds
the rights to 50 MHz in this band) and for 30 MHz in the 2100 MHz band (equal to Spark’s
full current allocation in this band).
Renewal rights to this spectrum are being offered by the Government at a price of
$720,000 per MHz, which would represent a total outlay of $50.4 million excl. GST for
Spark. Companies accepting renewal offers will have the option to make payment around
the time of renewal in 2021, or to pay by equal yearly instalments over the following five
years (with market interest rates applying). Spark intends to accept its renewal offers but
has yet to determine the payment approach it intends to adopt.
“We are disappointed that the full allocation of Spark’s spectrum rights will not be renewed
and we will need to accommodate this in our network planning. However, the reduction of
1800 MHz spectrum is not unexpected and we are confident we can continue to provide
the same level of high quality mobile services to our customers in the future as we do
today.
“We also accept that the creation of a spectrum band that could be used by emergency
services could serve New Zealanders well” said Mr Wesley-Smith.
Mr Wesley-Smith emphasised that the 1800 and 2100 MHz band spectrum rights are
separate from and different to the spectrum rights being considered for future 5G services.
Aside from 5G spectrum, the next renewal of mobile spectrum rights - for the 2600 MHz
spectrum band - is not expected to occur until late 2028 when the current rights for that
spectrum band expire.

Spark New Zealand Limited
ARBN 050 611 277 Spark City, 167 Victoria Street West, Private Bag 92028, Auckland, New Zealand


ENDS

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