Media Statement

25 November 2016

Spark and New Zealand Fire Service to create a private Paging Service

The New Zealand Fire Service and National Rural Fire Authority have entered into an agreement with Spark for a new private paging service for the Fire Service’s ongoing paging requirements, once the public network closes on 30 June 2017.

The agreement involves a significant upgrade of the existing paging infrastructure to form a new private paging service, which will be made available to other emergency services, health boards and customers for whom paging is also business-critical.

Last July Spark announced its decision to close the public paging network in 2017. The New Zealand Fire Service operates across the length of New Zealand including many remote rural locations that do not have wide spread reliable mobile coverage.

The paging service is considered business-critical to ensure Fire Service staff are quickly on-scene at emergencies and working swiftly to save lives.

Spark has been communicating with its other paging customers about the proposed shut down since July 2015, and will continue to work closely with existing customers over the next six months.

-ENDS-

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