Rural Broadband Comes To Kimbolton

04 December 2012

Mobile coverage and broadband options for some of the residents in Manawatu just got a whole lot better as Vodafone switched on a newly built cell site at Kimbolton under the Governments Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI). The Kimbolton site is the second in Manawatu, after Bunnythorpe was switched on in September.

A 30 metre monopole tower will provide new coverage to over 450 households in the Kimbolton area. The service, with urban comparable pricing, delivers not only mobile coverage, but wireless broadband via a high performance modem, adding a WiFi network into the home. Phone calls can also be made through this service by plugging an existing landline phone directly into the modem, removing the need for a landline connection. Customers can port their existing landline number to this new service.

Other new sites planned for the area during the five year programme include Apiti, Sanson, Fielding East, and Himatangi Beach.

Vodafone confirms the following existing cell sites in the area will be upgraded to deliver the wireless broadband service – Fielding, Himatangi, Awhuri, Bulls and Rata.

Vodafone’s Business Development Manager Simon Bailey, says the new cell site brings greater options to the community, with households and businesses now having choice in broadband service.

“Switching to wireless broadband can provide a consistent and reliable service to residents It also offers the rural community the opportunity to increase production and monitoring through machine to machine automation,” he said.

An additional benefit of RBI for rural communities is the extension of mobile coverage to include 4,500km of rural New Zealand roads, which until now have been without.

“This is a massive benefit for rural communities in dealing with emergencies, transport logistics, road safety and other real life circumstances that have been hampered by limited coverage,” said Bailey

Under the five year RBI plan, Vodafone will upgrade 387 existing cell towers and build a further 154 new towers in rural areas all over New Zealand. The government is funding the civil construction costs of these new sites which are designed to accommodate Vodafone equipment and that of other mobile and wireless operators. 23 new sites have been built so far, and an additional 131 have been upgraded.

Customers can find out if this service will be available at their address by checking online at

www.vodafone.co.nz/rural-broadband.

More imagery of monopole towers is available if required, along with a proposed RBI coverage map of the wider area and a schematic diagram of how wireless broadband works.

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