Radio Spectrum in New Zealand is allocated for a number of uses, including broadcast, narrow-band radio communications, point to point linking, and cellular, to name a few. Cellular spectrum in New Zealand is auctioned on the basis of blocks of a particular frequency range that is exclusive for the use of an operator across the entire country. These blocks are awarded on twenty year terms that appreciate the huge capital expenditure and time commitments involved in building national cellular networks.

Some carriers have dedicated an immense amount of resources to the acquisition of prime spectrum in New Zealand, while others have taken a value for money approach to acquisition. The following chart shows the amount of national spectrum licensed in megahertz (MHz), and the approximate aggregate dollar value of that spectrum (in Q3 2010 dollars), on a per-carrier basis.

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Vodafone New Zealand operates cellular networks at 950/1800 and 2100MHz, with 3G data supported in the 950 and 2100MHz bands. As of December 2010, Vodafone had 2,465,000 mobile subscribers. This analysis includes only 3G capable towers and does not take into account any 2G-only towers.

As at 1 February 2011, Vodafone was licensed for 1150 towers in the 950MHz band and 877 in the 2100 band. In many cases both bands are utilized from the same tower – the total number of towers operated being 1528. At 950MHz, all towers are licensed for 15MHz channels. In the 2100MHz band, 226 towers are licensed for 5MHz, and the remainder at 15MHz. Vodafone uses HSPA+, which requires a minimum channel sizes of 5MHz, so it is likely that in most cases Vodafone are operating between one and three 5MHz cells per tower – or up to six 5MHz cells on dual-carrier towers.

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Telecom Mobile operates 3G cellular networks at 850 and 2100MHz, with 3G data supported in both bands. As of 31 December 2010, Telecom had 2,192,000 mobile subscribers, 1,010,000 of which were on the XT network. Telecom also operates a legacy CDMA network which is not considered in this analysis.

As at 1 February 2011, Telecom was licensed for 1119 towers in the 850MHz band and 327 in the 2100 band. In most cases both bands are utilized from the same tower – the total number of towers operated being 1132. In 850MHz, towers have either 5,10, or 15MHz of spectrum licensed. At 2100MHz, all towers are licensed for 15MHz channels. Telecom uses Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), which requires a minimum channel sizes of 5MHz, so it is likely that in most cases Telecom are operating three 5MHz cells per band per tower.

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2Degrees Mobile operates cellular networks at 900 and 2100MHz, with 3G supported only at 2100MHz. The most recent published subscriber statistics show 2Degrees Mobile with 206,000 subscribers.

As at 1 February 2011, 2Degrees was licensed for 481 towers in the 2.1GHz UMTS band. Each record in the data set below shows registration of 15MHz of occupied bandwidth. License conditions specify a channel sizes of 5MHz, so it is likely 2Degrees are operating 3 cells per tower, or 1443 cells. 2Degrees built their network in conjunction with Huawei, so it is assumed that Huawei’s “New Generation Node B” base station is utilized. The link provided cites New Zealand as a commercial deployment location.

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