Communications Minister Kris Faafoi says the government will offer spare 3.5GHz spectrum to mobile networks and Māori by
the middle of next year. He should put some aside for the Wisps or wireless internet service providers.
Carriers need extra spectrum to offer fuller 5G mobile services. A full 5G service needs 80 to 100 MHz of spectrum to
delver the faster speeds and other benefits 5G promises.
Vodafone has a 5G network, at present it only allows fast downloads. Among other things, it needs more spectrum for faster uploads.
Spark also runs a 5G network. It's tiny and only serves a handful of South Island towns. At the moment it is only used
for fixed wireless broadband customers. Spark is leasing spectrum from another company. It needs its own.
Next year's auction is an interim move. The licences auctioned run until the end of 2022. Usually governments sell
spectrum licences for 20 years or so. By 2022 the government plans to have a longer term alternative in place.
Wisps
In an ideal world, both the temporary fix and the long-term 5G allocation will leave capacity for New Zealand's Wisps.
These are wireless internet service providers. That is, smaller companies who fill the gaps not reached by large telecommunications companies. Most Wisps work on lean margins. They service markets that are not viable for large telcos with their cost structures.
Wisps are often owner-operator businesses. You might find the boss climbing a pole somewhere in the bush or driving a
quad bike to a remote site. They are an important lifeline for some rural communities.
New Zealand has a couple of dozen Wisps, maybe 30. Most of them depend on the 3.5GHz spectrum to connect farmers and
other rural customers. For many remote users this is the only practical way of connecting to the outside world.
The government is working with 17 Wisps to boost coverage in remote areas.
Radio waves in the 3.5GHz spectrum band are, in effect, line-of-sight.
From an engineering point of view it should be possible for Wisps to go on using these frequencies while the big telcos
use the same spectrum in busier areas.
Yet that's not how licences usually work. So we need a mechanism to stop the big guys from using their financial clout
to muscle in on the smaller players.
In February Faafoi said there will be spectrum for Wisps to carry on operating. There needs to be. These companies are a
vital link in New Zealand's telecommunications chain. Their customers are the nation's largest exporters. They could do
with some answers now so they can plan.