New mobile phone transmitter sites are springing up around Taranaki and more are on the way.
Both Telecom and Vodafone say the new sites are necessary and will improve coverage for customers.
Telecom has one new transmitter site on New Plymouth's Devon St West, which it says will improve coverage for Telecom XT customers in central New Plymouth, out west towards Lynmouth and along the main routes for travellers to Blagdon and Westown. Other new Telecom transmitter sites have been built at Yarrow Stadium and Stratford, with a new site at Manaia going live shortly.
Telecom head of community relations Paul Leslie said customers would notice better voice and text performance, and benefit from much faster mobile broadband speeds.
But new sites aren't always well-received in the community.
Rival provider Vodafone received community backlash in Oakura in December when they announced plans to build a cell phone tower on the main street.
Former chairman of the Kaitake community board, Fay Looney, said at the time she would be prepared to lead a demonstration against the tower.
Vodafone said the position of the site was necessary, as moving it inland would degrade coverage along the beach.
Yesterday, Vodafone spokesman Matthew East said no site had been confirmed in Oakura and they were still looking at options there.
He said with the Government's rural broadband initiative more sites would be going up around the coast and in rural Taranaki but no locations had been confirmed.
Telecom spokeswoman Stephanie Fergusson said their coverage had also been improved north of New Plymouth.
"We have already upgraded our Urenui site, and are not far off undertaking upgrades on one of our Bell Block sites and our Waitara site," she said.
Ms Fergusson said future opportunities to improve coverage would be addressed by the rural broadband initiative.
Telecom would lay fibre to over 700 rural schools and to new cell sites Vodafone would then use to deliver a fixed wireless broadband service to households.
"Those sites would also be available to mobile operators, including XT, to locate their equipment to provide mobile services," she said.
Both Telecom and Vodafone say the new sites are necessary and will improve coverage for customers.
Telecom has one new transmitter site on New Plymouth's Devon St West, which it says will improve coverage for Telecom XT customers in central New Plymouth, out west towards Lynmouth and along the main routes for travellers to Blagdon and Westown. Other new Telecom transmitter sites have been built at Yarrow Stadium and Stratford, with a new site at Manaia going live shortly.
Telecom head of community relations Paul Leslie said customers would notice better voice and text performance, and benefit from much faster mobile broadband speeds.
But new sites aren't always well-received in the community.
Rival provider Vodafone received community backlash in Oakura in December when they announced plans to build a cell phone tower on the main street.
Former chairman of the Kaitake community board, Fay Looney, said at the time she would be prepared to lead a demonstration against the tower.
Vodafone said the position of the site was necessary, as moving it inland would degrade coverage along the beach.
Yesterday, Vodafone spokesman Matthew East said no site had been confirmed in Oakura and they were still looking at options there.
He said with the Government's rural broadband initiative more sites would be going up around the coast and in rural Taranaki but no locations had been confirmed.
Telecom spokeswoman Stephanie Fergusson said their coverage had also been improved north of New Plymouth.
"We have already upgraded our Urenui site, and are not far off undertaking upgrades on one of our Bell Block sites and our Waitara site," she said.
Ms Fergusson said future opportunities to improve coverage would be addressed by the rural broadband initiative.
Telecom would lay fibre to over 700 rural schools and to new cell sites Vodafone would then use to deliver a fixed wireless broadband service to households.
"Those sites would also be available to mobile operators, including XT, to locate their equipment to provide mobile services," she said.
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