As of its launch at the end of last week in the rural area of Papakura, Vodafone New Zealand is the first of its country’s cellcos to offer commercial 700MHz 4G LTE mobile services, Telecompaper.com reported on July 21, 2014.

Said Vodafone’s director of technology Sandra Pickering of the launch: “There’s no question that 4G – particularly in rural areas – will deliver economic benefits and have a strong impact on productivity. Our focus this year is on expanding our 4G network to rural New Zealand with 700MHz. We’ll be activating 4G wherever possible on our new Rural Broadband Initiative sites this year. In addition to a progressive upgrade of our existing sites with 700MHz, we will also be building a number of new sites each year to further improve our coverage.”

In October 2013, Vodafone won a 700MHz allocation in a digital dividend auction alongside rivals Telecom New Zealand and 2degrees. The UK-backed operator spent NZD66 million (54.5 million USD, plus goods and services tax [GST]) for a 2×15MHz block.