The deal will see Spark deploy Nokia’s latest 5G access across the country, with plans to offer coverage to around 90% of the population by the end of 2023.
Nokia will run its latest 5G RAN technology across a large part of the rollout, while simultaneously upgrading 4G at its sites. The upgraded service will grant Spark customers access to 5G connectivity, bringing faster speeds and additional capacity.
Rob Joyce, CTO for Australia and New Zealand at Nokia, said: “We’re proud to support Spark as it delivers the benefits of 5G to more of New Zealand. By helping Spark be 5G ready and reduce its total cost of ownership with our AirScale products, it can deliver 5G much faster and further than before, allowing its consumer and enterprise customers to reap the rewards of 5G in more and more places across New Zealand.”
Spark was the first network to deploy 5G in the country last year, launching the next-generation technology in Palmerston North with the rollout now gathering pace with this latest announcement.
Nokia said its latest RAN equipment has the potential to deliver up to 10-times faster data speeds to mobile and wireless broadband customers, while consuming less energy than earlier equipment used in the country.
Nokia has a long-standing partnership with Spark, delivering several projects across its network including 5G RAN, IP, and core.
Other reports from New Zealand overnight have indicated that Amazon is planning to spend NZ$7.5 billion building data centres in Auckland.
The American tech giant reportedly said that AWS will create 1,000 jobs and add $10.8 billion to New Zealand’s GDP over 15 years.
The reports claim that the company is targeting a 2024 opening for the new data centres.
