Spark announces 5G rollout plan into 2020 & network vendors

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


MARKET RELEASE
18 November 2019

Spark announces 5G roll out plans into 2020 and network
vendors

• 5G roll out for further heartland regional and major centres in 2020
• Roster of technology vendors confirmed in line with multi-vendor strategy

Spark today outlined the next phases of its progressive roll out of 5G services. Spark
will deliver 5G wireless broadband into five more South Island heartland locations
prior to Christmas, followed by further heartland communities from March 2020. A
broader range of 5G services, covering both mobile as well as wireless broadband,
will launch into major centres from mid 2020, subject to spectrum being made
available by the Government.
This builds upon Spark’s announcement in September that it had switched-on the
first 5G customer services in New Zealand, with the launch of 5G wireless broadband
in Alexandra.
Mark Beder, Spark’s Technology Director said wireless broadband is the first
meaningful use-case for 5G in New Zealand and is the focus for the initial phase of
Spark’s 5G roll out.
“Our 5G roll out approach is two-fold. Firstly, we are advancing our network delivery
plans so we can roll out quickly in major centres once the necessary spectrum
becomes available. Secondly, we’re innovating by repurposing some of our existing
spectrum to deliver 5G wireless broadband in places where it will make a real
difference to customers,” Beder said.
“We are prioritising our activity to heartland locations as we think these are the
places that will benefit most from the increased capacity and speed of 5G wireless
broadband, and we are excited to be bringing the early benefits of 5G to customers
in parts of New Zealand that have usually lagged well behind the major centres for
previous technology rollouts.
“The roll-out of 5G wireless broadband to heartland locations from March 2020 will
use some of our existing spectrum bands and Nokia Radio Access Network (RAN)*
equipment; in a continuation of our partnership with Nokia who assisted with the
launch of 5G services in Alexandra. Nokia will also be our partner for the other
heartland locations that will be launched before Christmas.”

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


Rajesh Singh, Spark’s General Manager of Value Management said that, in line with
its previously-stated multi-vendor strategy, Spark now has three companies – Nokia,
Samsung and Huawei - on its roster of preferred RAN equipment suppliers for 5G.
In addition, Spark will continue to use Cisco and Ericsson for separate elements of its
existing Network Core, which has already been upgraded to ensure it is Non-
Standalone (NSA) 5G capable.
“We’ve consistently said our approach to 5G will be multi-vendor. A key reason for
this is that 5G technology is still emerging and is likely to develop significantly in the
next few years, so a mix of vendors makes sense,” Singh said.
“As with any network deployment the roll-out of our 5G network is subject to
government approval in accordance with the Telecommunications (Interception
Capability and Security) Act 2013 (TICSA). We have already obtained approval
through TICSA to use Nokia 5G RAN equipment for our recently announced
deployment in Alexandra, and for our upcoming locations before Christmas. We have
withdrawn our original TICSA application, which proposed a single-vendor 5G RAN
strategy. We will work through the TICSA approval process in due course with our
other RAN vendors, prior to any deployment of their equipment.”

- ENDS –
Notes:
*There are three parts to a telecommunications system:
• User’s phone or device
• The RAN (Radio Access Network) – includes the cell towers, antennas and
backhaul (fibre connection to the core), as well as the radio connection to a
user’s phone or device.
• The Network Core – the central processing functions that authenticate user
devices, provide real-time charging for services, and connect users to other
networks such as the internet, fixed phones, or other mobile networks

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