It’s taken a while, but residents of Wakapuaka and Hira have finally come into reception and will now be able to send and receive phone calls and messages to their Vodafone cell phones.
Despite being just ten minutes out of Nelson, the surrounding hilly terrain has meant residents have been unable to get reception to their cell phones – until last Tuesday.
A 30 metre lattice tower installed in Hira will provide mobile coverage and wireless broadband for the first time to over 190 households in the area. Vodafone will also upgrade its site at Atawhai, improving coverage and capacity.
Under the government’s five year Rural Broadband Initiative Hira was identified by Vodafone as needing a new tower to improve coverage and is just one of 54 new towers it will install in rural areas all over New Zealand.
The tower will be of benefit not only to residents of Hira in terms of convenience, but in dealing with emergencies, transport logistics, road safety and other circumstances previously hampered by limited coverage.
Hira School Principal Kevin Ward says he’s pleased with the move and labels it as “all good progress in moving forward”.
He says he wasn’t aware it had come “online” until his cell phone started ringing. “I thought ‘hang on, that doesn’t normally happen’.”
He says having tradesmen and parents able to contact them at any time is a definite plus and the school was already connected to wireless broadband.
A spokesperson for Vodafone says the new tower at Hira has been planned for quite some time and was part of their goal to achieve government community coverage targets. “Locals will be able to use it straight away but can also find out if coverage from the new tower at Hira extends to their address online or by calling.”
