New Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has revealed he's launching "an initiative to fix the region's mobile phone blackspots", in what is his first policy announcement since his election last weekend.
Brown said on Sunday he's written to the chief executives of 2degrees, Spark, and Vodafone - Mark Callander, Jolie Hodson, and Jason Paris - offering to work with them to accelerate progress on eliminating remaining blackspots and dropped-call rates in the Auckland Council region.
"Aucklanders ought to be able to walk about anywhere in the Auckland CBD and our other major business centres, and drive along State Highway 1 from the Bombay Hills to Wellsford and on our other main roads, without any risk of calls dropping out," Brown said.
He said it's his job to work with telecommunications companies, Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and others to make this aspiration a reality for all Aucklanders.
In his letter to Callander, Hodson, and Paris, Brown said mobile coverage blackspots and the rate of dropped calls was a "constant source of complaint" during the mayoral election campaign.
"Aucklanders are right to be frustrated when mobile coverage in the city is substandard and limited. It is time to fix the remaining blackspots in Auckland's mobile network," Brown wrote.
"While not as prominent as other concerns about transport or the cost of living, concerns about network coverage were very high on the list of those raised with me. As incoming Mayor, it is my duty to raise these concerns with you and to put public pressure on you and others to improve deficiencies in your networks.
"It is my statutory role to provide leadership towards a vision of Auckland, which for me starts with fixing things about Auckland that unnecessarily make life harder and hold us back."
Brown has asked telecommunications companies to give him information on what is being done to identify and address mobile-coverage blackspots - including spots with only limited coverage - and the consequent rate of dropped calls throughout the region so he's aware of the extent of the problem.
He said current programmes like the Government's industry-funded Mobile Black Spot Fund and the Commerce Commission having powers to improve retail service quality isn't enough and wants to know what additional support is available. He has also asked the telecommunications companies whether the central government is giving them the regulatory and other support they need to work on service coverage issues in Auckland.
Further to this, Brown has also asked if any Auckland Council bylaws, policies, or operations are contributing to these issues and what advice the companies have on what the council or he can do to improve it.
Brown has asked Callander, Hodson, and Paris to send this information by the end of October so work can begin on fixing "significant problems" before the start of the next business year.
New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF) CEO Paul Brislen responded to Brown's letter and said the sector welcomes the new mayor's input. Brislen said while New Zealand has one of the highest rates of investment in telecommunications in the OECD, there is always more to do as products and services continue to rapidly digitise across the economy.
"Telecommunications is rightly seen as an essential service and New Zealanders have come to depend more and more on our digital infrastructure and services to keep families connected, businesses up and running and to keep the economy working," he said.
"Today we work closely with teams both within council and also among council-owned infrastructure partners to plan for and deploy our infrastructure. This is an area the Mayor and the new council could indeed help as new development sites, new subdivisions and the like are brought online."
By the end of this year, Brislen said New Zealand's mobile network operators will provide coverage to 99.8 percent of the population. But mobile devices mean people move around and expect the same level of connectivity whether they're "in a Ponsonby cafe or the Waitakere Ranges or at home".
"Funding network deployment where there are very few residents or which are remote but popular with tourists, for example, requires a co-investment model between public and private sector," Brislen said.
"The much-needed reform of the Resource Management Act raises the issue of delays to consents. While the new regulatory environment is being introduced it's vital we have certainty around the rules and process for deploying network assets, because maintaining an ongoing programme of work is essential for our mobile network operators.
"Any delay at the planning or building stage translates into increased customer frustration in the future."
He added he looks forward to working with Brown and the new council on this.
