A remote beach area in Northern Hawke's Bay has joined the wireless and broadband network after the installation of a new cell tower at Waihua Beach.
The Rural Connectivity Group, a joint-venture between Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees, says users in the area, on the coast between Raupunga and Wairoa, were previously reliant on satellite technology to access broadband services and had either poor or no mobile phone coverage.
The tower was provided as part of the second phase of the Rural Broadband Initiative and the Mobile Black Spot fund, which will deliver more than 400 new towers nationwide, and mobile services from all three mobile network companies.
Late last year the Government announced expansion of the project which will mean Hawke's Bay and the Gisborne-East Cape region will have close to 100 percent coverage by the end of 2022.
