The Oamaru Mail was recently contacted by a concerned Kakanui resident after they saw workers connected to a mobile infrastructure group, but all providers contacted by the Mail have stated they have no plans for new towers.
National company FortySouth, which owns the cellular structure network operated by OneNZ, told the Mail it had no immediate plans for new 5G cell towers in Oamaru.
A spokesperson for 2degrees also confirmed it had no plans for new 5G towers anywhere in the district.
"We constantly review and prioritise our coverage investment based on customer needs and demand.
"There are two 2degrees sites with 5G enabled in Oamaru, one central, one on the south edge.
"We don’t currently have plans for additional 5G sites, but we have plans to upgrade the RAN equipment at a couple of other nearby sites to provide enhanced 4G service."
A spokesperson for Spark said it had recently upgraded one 5G cell site serving Kakanui and the surrounding area but was not planning to build new towers.
"For Oamaru and North Otago, the 5G rollout is still in progress with some sites still to be upgraded — this means existing cell towers will have 5G technology added to them rather than new towers built."
A spokesperson for the Waitaki District Council said the council had "no knowledge" of any providers with plans for 5G towers in Kakanui or anywhere else at the time.
At present, councils have limited control on where 5G cell towers are erected if National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities (NESTF) are met, as the activity is classed as permitted.
On private land, installation requires only the landowner’s agreement, bypassing public notification completely.
The NESTF, part of the Resource Management Act 1991 framework, allow companies to install low-impact telecommunications infrastructure, including 5G cell towers, as long as they adhere to local district plan rules.
The government is consulting on changes to the national policy statement for infrastructure.
"The current environmental standards around telecommunication facilities were drafted in 2016 and are now very out of date.
"Changes to the standards will update rules around poles and other infrastructure and create a more efficient consenting environment," Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said.
That consultation ended today.
While not mentioning cell towers specifically, the consultation document states one of the intended results is to provide "greater certainty, particularly in growing cities, that infrastructure services can continue to be provided or as planned, and that housing and other development can also occur in a compatible way".
