Telecom is planning to upgrade its mobile data network in
Wanaka this year.
Residents and holiday-makers trying to use their mobile
devices complained of congestion during New Year
celebrations, and the problem has arisen again during this
week's Challenge Wanaka triathalon.
A Telecom spokeswoman said the company was aware of the
increased demand this week, which was similar to the New Year
period.
''Regrettably, there is nothing we can do to ease congestion
at present but Wanaka is due to get a capacity upgrade this
year in light of its increased mobile traffic.''
The spokeswoman said Telecom had not finalised its ''build
date'' yet but hoped to have something in place before the
ski season.
''The heightened demand is being driven by the rapid pick-up
in smartphones among the public.
''We're noticing this not only in Wanaka but nationally as
more people utilise smartphone technology, download apps,
send emails and access online tools.
A Vodafone spokeswoman said its network was also ''incredibly
busy'' and the company would be shifting some of the traffic
to its Treble Cone site to reduce congestion.
The main issue was with the 3G data network handling internet
traffic.
The spokeswoman said Vodafone was always happy to put
temporary cellsites in place but it needed to be advised of
an event in advance.
One temporary site was in use at present in Invercargill for
a motorcycle event.
A Wanaka Vodafone customer spoken to by the Otago Daily Times
sought, and received, a partial refund because of the
congestion at New Year.
- mark.price@odt.co.nz
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