Download Weekly: Spark pushes back 3G close date

Obsolete mobile network to close in March 2026

Spark has pushed back the closure of its 3G mobile network. The company had previously indicated it would shut down the network later this year but has now confirmed March 31, 2026, as the official cut-off date.

The other two carriers appear to be sticking with their original plans to shut down 3G earlier. One New Zealand says it will retire its 3G network by December 31, while 2degrees hasn’t named a specific date but says it will switch off its service in “late 2025.”

In all three cases, spectrum currently used for 3G will be reallocated to bolster 4G and 5G services

End of life

3G technology, introduced in the early 2000s, is now considered obsolete. Mobile operators around the world have already begun retiring their 3G networks.

Demand for 3G services in New Zealand has been in steady decline. Last year, the three mobile carriers reported that 3G accounted for only 4 to 8 percent of network traffic. This week, Spark revealed that just 2 percent of its total network data traffic runs over 3G. It says 3G voice calls have dropped by 85 percent since 2019.

Rural concerns

A small group of users still rely on 3G, particularly in rural areas. At last month’s Tuanz Connecting Aotearoa summit in Hamilton, some attendees voiced concerns that 4G and 5G networks don’t reach as deep into rural New Zealand as 3G does.

Spark counters this saying it has been working to improve rural connectivity, expanding its 4G network in anticipation of the 3G closure. Over the past two years, the company has built 70 new 4G towers and upgraded 600 existing sites.

Spark’s Network and Operations director, Renee Mateparae, acknowledged that there could still be coverage issues “at the edges of the network.”

“We’ll be keeping a close eye on those areas and working with anyone affected to support them with connectivity options,” she said. “This could include WiFi calling, external antennas, or satellite – which will be available to Spark customers in early 2026.”

Older devices

There’s also the issue of customers using older devices that don’t support voice calling over 4G (VoLTE). These users will need to upgrade their phones to maintain calling capabilities once 3G is switched off.

Spark says it will continue to work with affected customers to help them move to compatible devices and services. The company also plans to launch a support programme aimed at vulnerable users in early 2026.

Mateparae says: “At this stage, less than four percent of devices on our network rely on 3G to connect or are 4G devices that don’t support VoLTE. This number includes devices such as tablets, as well as business devices and IoT. We expect this to decline significantly as we continue with our customer awareness and communications.”

The number of people likely to be affected is small. Mateparae says the 4G and 5G networks reach 99 percent of the population and covers a broader footprint than 3G. She says Spark plans to work with rural customers to help them find alternatives.

netQ pushes Zero Trust as VPN replacement

Neille Bonner says traditional virtual private networks are outdated and no longer offer the level of security needed in 2025. He believes a modern Zero Trust approach provides better access control and reduces an organisation’s exposure to cyber threats.

Bonner is CEO of netQ, a New Zealand-based technology firm, which aims to help businesses make the move to a simplified, cloud-based approach to online security.

He says the cybersecurity landscape changed permanently during the Covid-19 era, when many employees switched to working remotely — some permanently.

“The traditional VPN worked by giving remote users a direct tunnel into a system. The model meant that the connection was considered to be trusted. That was fine 10 or 15 years ago, but we’ve moved to network apps and cloud services.

“VPNs provide north-south access into a network. Once there you had unfettered east-west access. You might connect to use one service, but you’d have access to all of them. You were trusted because of the VPN.

“Zero trust assumes that no connection can be trusted. Everything has to be authenticated.

Jargon-buster: In a secure network North-south traffic is the term used when data flows between the network and the outside world. East-west traffic is where data moves within the network. This has become important in recent years with increased use of cloud computing and microservices which involve considerable internal traffic volumes and can mean greater vulnerabilities for data moving inside a network.

Apple offers iPhone-only vibrating F1 movie trailer

Apple is promoting its Formula 1 film with a trailer that will only be available on the iPhone and some iPads. The twist? The app playing the trailer uses the phone’s Taptic Engine so that viewers can feel the action in their hands.

This is an interesting development given that Apple is now both a movie company and a phone maker. Apple is using it hardware to promote material made for its streaming TV service. This probably won’t be the last time Apple uses its tight hardware-content integration this way.

Cybercrime financial losses leap 14.7 percent

New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recorded a 14.7 percent rise in reported financial losses during the first quarter of 2025.

Losses totalled $7.8 million — up from $6.8 million the previous quarter — making it the second-highest figure on record.

The agency reported 1,369 incidents. Of these it describes 77 as being of “potential national significance”.

Tom Roberts who leads the CSC’s Response and Investigations Team says many of these losses came from scams and fraud. Business email compromise – where an attacker targets the email systems of a business to steal money or data – and unauthorised money transfers were the most common forms of attack.

Roberts says that these trends are consistent with the previous quarter and warns that the real figure is likely to be far higher than reported.

Hard times for broadband access equipment market

The Dell’Oro Group reports worldwide revenues for the broadband access equipment market fell 8 percent in the first quarter of this year down to US$4.4 billion. On a year-on-year basis, sales were flat.

US government plans to impose tariffs on imports are likely to have a huge impact on the market over the coming years. The research firm warns there is potential for an international slowdown in economic growth and that will affect demand.

Despite the broader downturn, spending on 5G fixed wireless customer premises equipment reached a record high, as subscriber numbers grew worldwide. Fibre ONT (optical network terminal) shipments were up one percent year-on-year.

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