The communities selected by Vodafone for their first community-initiated cell sites have been announced.

Communities at Waihau Bay in the East Cape of the North Island and two communities in the North and South Catlins made the cut for 2012.   Site survey work will begin immediately.

“An application by the Glen Murray Community Association was unsuccessful but they were invited to reapply later this year because their application was strong” said John Allen, Rural Technology Manager for Primary Focus Trust who coordinated the application. 

The Chair of the Association, Andrew Caldwell, was disappointed but philosophical about the missed opportunity.  “We will apply again next year,” Andrew said, “it is the only way that we are going to get reasonable broadband services in the short term.”

“The reason Glen Murray missed out this year was that, even though the area has poor 021 coverage, it does have reasonable mobile phone coverage from Telecom, whereas the successful communities have no mobile coverage at all” said John Allen. 

Vodafone offered the initiative to remote rural communities not covered by the $300 million Rural Broadband Initiative now underway.

Under the programme, Vodafone would install the cell site with residents organizing land for the tower, assisting with RMA consents, and supported by local Iwi, among other criteria. Vodafone then runs the cell site on the same commercial open-access basis as sites provided under the government’s Rural Broadband Initiative.