Announcement on early access spectrum (amended)

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


MARKET RELEASE
16 December 2019

Spark’s response to the Government’s announcement on early
access spectrum
Spark welcomes the Government’s announcement that it intends to run an auction
process early next year* for the short-term allocation of some spectrum within the
3.5 GHz band (also known as the C Band) for 5G wireless services.
The auction will allocate management rights for 160 MHz of spectrum within this
band, with rights running from mid-2020 until 31 October 2022.
This is a positive development and we intend to participate in the auction. Access to
sufficient spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band will enable Spark to bring true mass-market
5G services to more New Zealanders as soon as possible. The Government
foreshadowed this short-term allocation process earlier this year and we are pleased
this will shortly occur, as it should allow Spark to launch mass deployment of 5G
services as planned from mid-2020.
The Government is expected to hold a further auction process at a later date for
longer-term rights from November 2022 of all available spectrum within the C Band.
Spark recently launched New Zealand’s first 5G commercial wireless broadband
service into selected South Island towns and communities, with further locations
coming next year. Spark’s 5G wireless broadband rollout to date has used spectrum
that was repurposed from previous 4G use.
A copy of the Government’s announcement can be found at the following link:
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-enables-early-access-5g-
spectrum

[*Amended version – previous version stated “in March 2019” but this was an error.
Now reads “early next year”].
Ends

For media queries, please contact:
Arwen Vant
Corporate Relations Partner
+64 (0) 21 484 232

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



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Dean Werder
Finance Lead Partner, Product and Performance
+64 (0) 27 259 7176