Thinxtra is now covering 88% of New Zealand population with Sigfox Network

Thinxtra’s IoT network reaches 88% coverage of NZ population

Thinxtra, together with business-focused service provider Kordia, says its dedicated Internet of Things (IoT) network has reached 88% coverage of the New Zealand population, close to its goal of covering 95% of the population.

According to Aaron Olphert, Chief Digital Officer at Kordia, there has been significant interest in the low-power network – which is based on Sigfox technology – and the company is aiming to sell one million IoT connections over the next three years.

“Already, we are seeing pent up demand from companies that recognise the potential offered by the IoT, but also understand that existing connectivity options and the associated costs are not workable,” says Olphert.

The Sigfox network provides the necessary infrastructure through which small battery powered IoT sensors can communicate, regardless of location. But before that can happen, Olphert says a network which can connect those sensors in a cost-effective way is required.

Olphert highlights that Sigfox provides a dedicated, low-power network which brings the cost of connectivity for IoT sensors down to a fraction of existing connectivity. ‘Low-power’ is an essential characteristic as it means the sensors can be equipped with small batteries that can last for more than a decade.

Thinxtra’s Sigfox network now covers some 88 per cent of the country’s population, from Invercargill to Whangarei. The network has just been extended with South Island coverage to Ashburton, Oamaru and Timaru and is in the process of deploying the network in Queenstown.

Shaun McBride, Thinxtra’s NZ deployment manager, says the Sigfox network is the ‘missing link’ for the delivery of IoT solutions. “The concept of connecting just about anything to the internet and then gathering information from it has long intrigued those who recognise that measurement leads to improvement. But without the infrastructure to do it at very low cost and without long life battery powered sensors, it hasn’t yet been possible – something which is rapidly changing as our network is readied for fully covering most of the NZ population.”

Thinxtra and Kordia are  also currently working with a range of ecosystem partners on solutions that include agriculture, asset tracking, service-on-demand, road infrastructure and natural resource use cases.


About Kordia

Kordia is a highly focused, specialist telecommunications, information security and media business. We’ve been delivering innovative and highly reliable enterprise-grade broadcast, telecommunications and specialised networks for over sixty years.
We enjoy a strong presence throughout New Zealand and Australia, employing nearly 1000 highly skilled engineering, network operations and field technician staff, who develop networks, contract and consult.
Our people are here to make your business more effective—through real-time speed, efficiency and total reliability.
Visit www.kordia.co.nz

Kordia Contact:
Esmee O’Brien, Head of Communications
[email protected] +64 22 618 8273


About Thinxtra
Thinxtra is empowering the Internet of Things in Asia Pacific by deploying the world-leading Sigfox LPWA network as well as building a full eco-system of IoT solutions and services to enable the non-connected to connect, to increase productivity, accelerate decision making, improve quality of service and quality of life, and find more economical solutions to common problems. Sigfox is the world’s leading provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company has built a global network to connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible.
Sigfox’s unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability. Thinxtra’s Sigfox network currently covers 71% of the population in Australia and 88% of the population in New Zealand and will start deployment in Hong Kong by June 2017. It will cover 95% of the population of those countries by the end of 2017.
Thinxtra was founded by IoT and network experts who share a common passion for connecting things to improve business processes and people lives. It is backed by NZX-listed high-tech company Rakon Limited, which has a history of innovation in communications technology going back some 50 years.

For more information, contact:
Renald Gallis – VP Marketing and Ecosystem
[email protected] +61 404 894 960

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