Mobile and broadband services Chatham Islands

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freitasm

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#290740 1-Dec-2021 11:24

Press release:

World class mobile and broadband services have been switched on for the 663 residents of the Chatham Islands, Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, David Clark and Minister for Economic and Regional Development, Stuart Nash announced today.

“This eagerly awaited network will provide fast broadband and mobile services to residents and anybody who visits the Chatham Islands,” David Clark said.

“The small population of the Chatham and Pitt Islands have long awaited a reliable communication link with the mainland and I’m delighted to see it happen. This will be a real game-changer.”

The network has been made possible thanks to the Rural Connectivity Group (RCG), Government's Rural Broadband programme and an $11.5 million investment from the Government including $8.6m from the Provincial Growth Fund.

“Better coverage for business and households in small rural communities is vital to help strengthen the local economy, businesses and jobs, and to support the way of life in this remote part of New Zealand,” Stuart Nash said.

To enable technologies including: 4G wireless broadband, mobile voice, data and text services; a new satellite link, satellite dish and five cell sites have been installed around the main island.

“The new network enables 111 Emergency calling to be available on the island for the first time. Users of all three mobile networks will now be able to contact emergency services from mobiles, not just landlines as was previously the case,” David Clark said.

“Today’s milestone sends a strong signal to the people of Rēkohu/Wharekauri that this rugged and unique place should still be able to enjoy modern connections to the rest of the world,” Stuart Nash said.

All three schools on the island, as well as the airport, will also receive coverage. The two marae, Whakamaharatanga Marae and Kopinga Marae, are connected as well.

Any household not covered for broadband from these new towers will receive broadband coverage from alternative technology in due course.

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#2822521 1-Dec-2021 12:39

Wow. Cellphone coverage on Chatham & Pitt island.

Was lucky enough to go a couple of time for work. Pritty surreal in this era to be in a town with no cell phone coverage.

Should note that there is a WISP on the island, so there is internet atm, (but I think speed / stability wasn't great), and they have landlines. LTE should be a bis step up.

I'm surprised that 111 didn't previously work on their landlines, but am aware that the island has some widely used 2 way radio frequency that was used in the event of an emergency.

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#2822528 1-Dec-2021 12:55

This reads like it's still a GEO satellite link (Eutelsat?), so while calls within the Chathams will be all good, calls off-island and Internet access will have 900ms ping delays making the user experience fairly unsatisfactory.

Also I'd expect the satellite link capacity to be tens of megabits/sec, not hundreds of megabits/sec, let alone gigabit level

It's going to be a really great advance in emergency communications for those on the Chathams, but won't provide a huge improvement in Internet access.

They really need to do a deal with OneWeb (or other LEO / MEO operator) to have ground stations in the Chathams and in NZ to allow lower ping comms.
I don't think it's a market that Starlink intends to address, they'd rather put a user terminal in every home and have inter-satellite links deliver the signal to one of their existing gateways in NZ.
Both of these solutions are 2022/23, though, not this year

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#2823067 2-Dec-2021 10:35

From 2degrees:

2degrees is taking its Fight for Fair to the air, flying three team members to Chatham Island, just days after the announcement that the island now has mobile connectivity for the first time.

The connectivity is thanks to the new Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) network that went live on Wednesday 1^st December.

The team members will spend two days on the island, supporting residents to sign up to 2degrees, set up wireless broadband (WBB) for the first time, or connect their mobile phones. 2degrees already supports businesses and Government clients on the island and will be on hand to help these businesses get the most from the new services too.

“We are committed to helping as many Kiwis as possible be connected in the ways that suit them. In the spirit of Fighting for Fair and connection, we’ve partnered with two local stores on the island who are now selling 2degrees prepay sim cards,” says Paul Mathewson, 2degrees Chief Commercial Officer and RCG Board member.

“We also wanted to take our commitment a step, or a flight, further, so next week we will also have some of our dedicated people on the ground to help residents get connected in person, particularly helping them with their 4G wireless broadband needs.”

The 2degrees team will support locals to sign up to 4G wireless broadband for the first time, taking over wireless modems that are already set up and will be ready to use quickly.

“The RCG have been working on the infrastructure to connect people on Chatham Island for some time, so when we heard the sites were ready to go live, we jumped into action to ensure our customers wouldn’t lose anytime accessing the network and reconnecting with family, friends and businesses. And just in time for Christmas,” says Paul.

Built as part of the Government’s Rural Broadband Initiative Phase 2, the RCG network enables 4G WBB, mobile voice, data and text services on Chatham Island for the first time.

Any residents should visit the dedicated 2degrees page for initial support, and the team will be in touch to discuss their connectivity needs.

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#2823108 2-Dec-2021 11:16

Would be good to find out what speed and latency is like.

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#2824563 5-Dec-2021 09:44

From memory there were two existing networks

1. Wireless nation built a small wisp network around the island with some government funding. It was backhauled via a satellite link.

2. Farmside also did a project backhauled by satellite where they installed some web caching equipment at the Waitangi telephone exchange to speed up well used websites etc and then sent it out via DSL around the town.

I am quite keen to see what this new installation would be using for backhaul.

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#2824577 5-Dec-2021 11:11

I have dreamed of going to the Chathams for years, one of the great things for me is no mobile coverage, great for me not the locals,

Starlink would be a great option for internet and voice as it has much lower latency, however this does come at a price, I wonder if anyone there has installed it yet, the biggest issue is getting it there I guess, also I dont know if they have power generation there for the island of everyone has their own generator like Great Barrier Island.

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#2824578 5-Dec-2021 11:14

The PR doesn't say which networks are supported.

Yes, I saw the bit about phones on all three networks having access to 111 but that doesn't mean phones on all three networks have the ability to make normal calls or be able to access data.

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#2824579 5-Dec-2021 11:16

SATTV:

I have dreamed of going to the Chathams for years, one of the great things for me is no mobile coverage, great for me not the locals,

Starlink would be a great option for internet and voice as it has much lower latency, however this does come at a price, I wonder if anyone there has installed it yet, the biggest issue is getting it there I guess, also I dont know if they have power generation there for the island of everyone has their own generator like Great Barrier Island.

John

There is reticulated power.

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#2824580 5-Dec-2021 11:16

SATTV:

I have dreamed of going to the Chathams for years, one of the great things for me is no mobile coverage, great for me not the locals,

Starlink would be a great option for internet and voice as it has much lower latency, however this does come at a price, I wonder if anyone there has installed it yet, the biggest issue is getting it there I guess, also I dont know if they have power generation there for the island of everyone has their own generator like Great Barrier Island.

John

It's my understanding that there is no Starlink coverage yet.

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#2824583 5-Dec-2021 11:59

Technofreak:
The PR doesn't say which networks are supported.

Yes, I saw the bit about phones on all three networks having access to 111 but that doesn't mean phones on all three networks have the ability to make normal calls or be able to access data.

@Technofreak It is a RCG build and the 3 carriers building the network is 2degrees, SparkNZ and VodafoneNZ

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#2824588 5-Dec-2021 12:31

Pretty sure 111 calls were available there (from landlines), I remember reading some in-house magazine when I was working at Telecom in the 1990s saying that calls (120 calls, at least) were diverted to the faults centre in Auckland.

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#2824595 5-Dec-2021 13:18

Scott3:

I'm surprised that 111 didn't previously work on their landlines, but am aware that the island has some widely used 2 way radio frequency that was used in the event of an emergency.

”

“The new network enables 111 Emergency calling to be available on the island for the first time. Users of all three mobile networks will now be able to contact emergency services from mobiles, not just landlines as was previously the case,” David Clark said.”

Thank some missed the bolded part, and read it as no landline 111 calls were available before. Probably a badly worded first sentence.

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#2824615 5-Dec-2021 14:16

Just tried a random address in the address checker on starlink.com, result was they expect to have coverage in 2023

Technofreak

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#2825370 6-Dec-2021 21:56

Linux:
Technofreak:

The PR doesn't say which networks are supported.

Yes, I saw the bit about phones on all three networks having access to 111 but that doesn't mean phones on all three networks have the ability to make normal calls or be able to access data.

@Technofreak It is a RCG build and the 3 carriers building the network is 2degrees, SparkNZ and VodafoneNZ

Thanks

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#2825389 6-Dec-2021 22:10

Just checked all the network coverage maps, only 2degrees (who seem to be quite fast updating theirs) are showing coverage, looks like the whole island will get a 4G signal 👍

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