Spark New Zealand starts 5G live trial in Auckland Harbour

Emirates Team New Zealand's AC75 'Te Aihe' on the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand 36th America's Cup. Image courtesy Emirates Team New Zealand

Spark New Zealand today announced that it is now trialling a 5G service on the water for Emirates Team New Zealand, delivering on their promise to help make the boat go faster in the bid to defend the next America’s Cup.

The reduced latency and higher bandwidth of 5G means Emirates Team New Zealand can now livestream data and video back to engineers and designers at the base straight directly from the new boat while it is sailing.

The 5G service covers parts of Auckland Harbour, off Milford and Takapuna, where Emirates Team New Zealand do some of their test sailing. The reduced latency and higher bandwidth of 5G means Emirates Team New Zealand can now livestream data and video back to engineers and designers at the base straight off the new AC75 boat, Te Aihe while it’s sailing. Real time access to the data gives Emirates Team New Zealand a design advantage in preparing for the America’s Cup racing.

The trial service is an extension of Spark’s existing 5G Lab in Wynyard Quarter in downtown Auckland, and uses test spectrum on loan from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). As part of the trial, Spark installed a 5G service at the Emirates Team New Zealand base in Auckland in July and has supplied 5G handsets to the team.

Dan Bernasconi, Head of Design for Emirates Team New Zealand said that the 5G service is a game changer for the team.

Hodson added that the team’s use of 5G demonstrates the difference it will make to New Zealand businesses: ‘Many industries and businesses in New Zealand will have their own ideas on what their transformative technology could be enabled by 5G. We want to encourage businesses to begin thinking about how they can prepare for the future of Spark 5G.’

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