Cellular connectivity and internet availability in NZ has been challenging for a long time. Black spots, call drop outs and not being able to use farm technology in every location has been a problem for years.
However, the government’s “statement of intent for improving digital connectivity ” has been recently announced by MBIE.
Needless to say, the four connectivity priorities are not easy nor immediate to provide, but they give a pathway to what New Zealand farms can expect by 2032.
This Irrigation NZ article (page 16 of the Autumn 2023 news) provides a great interpretation of the policy with a focus on irrigation and farm management systems.
100% Cellular Coverage by Satellite
You may have also seen that Vodafone New Zealand has recently transformed in to “One New Zealand”.
One New Zealand have announced a “100% mobile coverage plan” for New Zealand with a collaboration with SpaceX. A truly exciting development which will help improve safety and all on farm digital connectivity options.
SpaceX’s satellite constellations are already widely used, including a similar partnership with T-Mobile, the global telco giant.
The low earth orbit satellites for this collaboration are likely to be deployed in late 2024. The mobile services they offer will then gradually roll out from text only through to voice and data.
Digital Connectivity in NZ is improving – let us all hope that the strategy delivers on the needs for farmers and rural New Zealand.
We know that New Zealand’s terrain is challenging even for irrigation. This is one of the reasons smart solid set irrigation is the most popular choice for these conditions. Click here for more details.
Cellular comms is an option for the Water-Insight IMS gateway. However, unlike some other products, our IPC sprinkler controllers do not need constant cellular signal to manage their irrigation scheduling.
Once the IPC has it’s schedule, it will continue to irrigate autonomously.
