Sparks LoRaWan network will cover 4 centres by Christmas.

Spark says its LoRaWan network will be operating in four centres by Christmas. The network goes live first in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.

The company says 16 more cities will be added to the network early in next year. By mid-2018 it will reach 70 percent of the population.

Spark is playing catch-up in IoT network technology. Two networks, Thinxtra and locally owned Kotahinet, already have wide coverage reaching most of mainland New Zealand.

IoT a crowded space

It's a crowded market. Chorus has recently trialled its own LoRaWan IoT network while Vodafone expects to launch its network next year.

For its trial network, Chorus worked with Vianet, which is owned by the same parent company as Visionstream. The company has a natural advantage when it comes to building a network as it owns telephone poles, cabinets, exchanges and masts throughout the country. Chorus is also using redundant copper telephone network to deliver power to IoT access points.

The new Spark IoT network is being built by Kordia, which also put the Sigfox network in place. Spark uses two network technologies: LoRa and M1. The LoRa network is largely ready while Spark says the M1 network will start commercial operation in the first part of 2018. LoRa uses unlicensed spectrum while M1 piggybacks of the cellular network.

Spark says it will also invest in a third network, Narrowband-IoT, later when the technology is more mature.

L1 Capital cleared to buy up to 15% of Chorus

The government has given Australian fund manager L1 Capital the green light to take its stake in Chorus to as much as 15 percent. Approval is needed because of the Kiwi share restrictions which Chorus inherited when it demerged from Telecom NZ in 2011. Spark no longer has such a restriction on its ownership.

Tait Communications to build TeamTalk digital radio network

Teamtalk says Tait Communications is to a new national digital mobile radio network. While Teamtalk says it is already the largest commercial mobile radio service provider, a new network opens more revenue opportunities. One opportunity is the planned network's ability to interconnect different networks.

From next year 2degrees will be the exclusive telecommunications partner for the New Zealand teams competing in the Investec Super Rugby. The deal will run to 2020 and include all NZ teams; the Blues, the Chiefs, the Hurricanes, the Crusaders and the Highlanders.

In the past the company had a relationship with the Highlanders. CEO Stewart Sherriff says that worked well for 2degrees. The expansion will give the company's brand far more profile nationwide. Among other things, the 2degrees logo will appear on club jerseys.

Sherriff says the sponsorship is an ideal partnership and an opportunity to connect with New Zealanders.

Vocus to offer Great Southern Route

Vocus is pushing the idea of a second, more secure trans-Pacific data route for traffic between South-East Asia and the west coast of the USA.

The Great Southern Route will use the Australia-Singapore Cable Vocus is building to take traffic from Asia to Western Australia. From there it will use the company's domestic links across the country and join with the Southern Cross Cable Network in New South Wales. The ASC is due to open for business in mid-2018. When the Southern Cross Next cable opens, that will be part of the route.

Vocus International head Luke Mackinnon says it is a safer trans-Pacific route because it avoids the two regions that give traffic planners headaches.

The area around Japan has a huge amount of geological activity. While the North-West Pacific region is threatened by political instability from North Korea. The country has already threatened Guam which is a key point on many fibre routes across the North Pacific Ocean. There are also many trouble spots in the South China Sea where territory is disputed.

Another advantage is the southern route will use newer network technologies and therefore offer lower latency.

Spark fixed wireless hits 100,000

Spark says it now has 100,000 fixed wireless broadband customers. It says 15 percent of Spark broadband customers have moved to fixed wireless broadband. The service started in early 2016 and has been heavily pushed by Spark's sales operation in the last year.

At present fixed wireless customers can only use the service from a single location. In theory it is geo-locked to the customer's address although some have reported being able to use it elsewhere. Spark says it now is testing a portable version which allows customers to use the service from more than one location.

Pip Greenwood joins Spark board

Spark has appointed Russell McVeagh senior partner Pip Greenwood as a non- executive director. Greenwood was previously chair of Russell McVeagh. His appointment suggests the direction Spark is heading as she has expereince in mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. Greenwood was an advisor during the demerger of Chorus and Telecom. She will join the board in April.