{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreigkzghlowom4n2xqvshbn623obhvh3fcibmkzvuw33t7b36tvxody",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:k6wa3qmi3ft5iu2kkblr6ggx/app.bsky.feed.post/3mguzyvzd26t2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreifdndugyqvenaid4hzclmzb52eleoexakmydbjc3l3u6r5md74y2i"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/png",
    "size": 1161448
  },
  "description": "Carriers found thousands of less common handsets during New Zealand's otherwise smooth 3G shutdown. Kordia warns companies that letting staff loose on AI tools is a security risk. Datagrid gets consent to build Southland AI factory. ",
  "path": "/3g-shutdown-enters-final-phase/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-12T18:33:23.000Z",
  "site": "https://billbennett.co.nz",
  "tags": [
    "Spark New Zealand will switch off its remaining 3G network on March 31",
    "VoLTE",
    "Digital Equity Coalition Aotearoa",
    "Spark to recycle 3G spectrum for rural 5G",
    "NZ 3G networks plan to close by end of 2025",
    "3G use slows as networks face closure",
    "Spark delays 3G shutdown - official cut-off confirmed",
    "Digital equity concern as 3G shutdown nears",
    "3G shutdown begins in Dunedin",
    "Emergencies behind 3G shutdown pause",
    "New Zealand’s 3G era ends: The final 111 risk report",
    "AI reduces on hold wait times",
    "Amazon wants US regulators to reject SpaceX data centre application",
    "Makarewa data centre",
    "Tasman Ring Network cable",
    "Express Connect data centre service",
    "The Commerce Commission issued a draft recommendation to remove regulations",
    "Vocus called time on its planned New Zealand IPO",
    "Ross Patterson: Government-funded fibre makes senseFormer telecommunications commissioner Ross Patterson defends the case for the New Zealand government’s investment in a FTTP network.Bill BennettBill Bennett"
  ],
  "textContent": "In this edition:\n\n  * How is the 3G shutdown progressing?\n  * Kordia warns of AI security risks\n  * Giant Southland data centre gets consent\n\n\n\n## Largely smooth transition despite device challenges\n\nNew Zealand’s 3G mobile era is ending. Spark New Zealand will switch off its remaining 3G network on March 31. Rival 2degrees has already closed its network. One New Zealand is in the final stages of a staged regional shutdown that began in late 2025.\n\nThe shutdown has been years in the making. Mobile operators say most customers have moved on. But the final stages exposed a few unexpected problems.\n\n### Devices prove to be a problem\n\nAnalyst Robert Wyrzykowski from Opensignal says technically the transition has been smooth.\n\n“No major surprises from a network perspective,” he says.\n\nThe bigger issue has been devices. Some users own relatively modern phones that will not work once 3G disappears.\n\nMany are parallel-imported models bought online. They may support 4G data but cannot make voice calls over 4G using VoLTE.\n\nOwners assumed they were safe because their phone displays a 4G symbol.\n\n“That has been one of the biggest education challenges,” Wyrzykowski says.\n\n### Thirty thousand handsets\n\nTCF CEO Paul Brislen, whose organisation represents the industry, says it has also been struck by the sheer variety of phones on local networks.\n\nHe says operators initially assumed the market was dominated by a handful of major brands. In practice the number of active handset variants is far higher.\n\n“When you factor in operating systems, hardware and firmware versions there are more than 30,000 different handsets connecting to New Zealand networks,” Brislen says.\n\nThe long tail is particularly difficult. Some models appear only once or twice on a network.\n\nMany arrive as parallel imports or devices bought overseas. That makes it impossible to test every configuration against every network scenario.\n\nBrislen says the experience raises a wider question for the future. The industry may need to consider minimum standards for phones connecting to local networks.\n\nThe number affected appears small. Some customers only needed to enable VoLTE or update device software.\n\nMobile operators say most users have already upgraded.\n\nSpark says fewer than two percent of devices on its network still rely on 3G or lack VoLTE support. While that number is relatively small, it represents potential hardship for thousands of people.\n\n### Awareness without action\n\nThe company has spent years preparing for the shutdown. It has sent more than two million notifications to customers.\n\nResearch by the Commerce Commission suggests public awareness is high.\n\nYet awareness does not always lead to action.\n\nSpark says some customers see the 4G symbol on their phone and assume everything will keep working.\n\nIn reality the handset may only use 4G for data. Voice calls still fall back to 3G.\n\nOnce the old network disappears those calls will fail.\n\nOperators have encouraged customers to check their phones by texting “3G” to a short code.\n\nThey have also offered low-cost replacement devices.\n\n2degrees says communicating the details has proved harder than the earlier 2G shutdown.\n\n### The hardest to reach\n\nThat earlier change mostly affected very old handsets.\n\nThe 3G transition is more complex. Some newer devices require settings changes or software updates.\n\nCommunity groups warn the impact may still fall unevenly.\n\nDigital Equity Coalition Aotearoa says there is still uncertainty about how many people could lose connectivity.\n\nOperations team member Marie Silberstein says the gap between awareness and action has been wider than expected.\n\nMany people heard warnings about the shutdown but did not realise their own phone might be affected.\n\nOthers assumed a newer handset would continue working.\n\nSilberstein says some of the most vulnerable users are also the hardest to reach.\n\n“They are less likely to receive, understand or act on information from a telco,” she says.\n\nCommunity organisations have helped people check devices and access subsidised upgrades.\n\nSilberstein says the experience offers a lesson for future network changes.\n\nMajor infrastructure transitions require community involvement from the start.\n\nIndustry outreach alone may not reach everyone.\n\nMore change is coming. Copper phone lines are already being retired in many areas as fibre and wireless networks take over.\n\nThe 3G shutdown shows how complicated even well-planned technology transitions can be.\n\n* * *\n\nMore on the New Zealand 3G shutdown\n\n2023 Spark to recycle 3G spectrum for rural 5G\n\n2023 NZ 3G networks plan to close by end of 2025\n\n2024 3G use slows as networks face closure\n\n2025 Spark delays 3G shutdown - official cut-off confirmed\n\n2025 Digital equity concern as 3G shutdown nears\n\n2026 3G shutdown begins in Dunedin\n\n2026 Emergencies behind 3G shutdown pause\n\n2026 New Zealand’s 3G era ends: The final 111 risk report\n\n* * *\n\n## Kordia: Staff AI use emerges as cyber risk\n\nNearly a quarter of New Zealand businesses (24 percent) say staff improperly using AI tools has become a major security risk.\n\nKordia’s latest business cyber security report surveyed about 250 organisations with more than 50 staff. It found 24 percent rank improper AI use among their top cyber security challenges. The figure is up from 16 percent a year earlier.\n\nThe study says cyber attacks exploiting AI vulnerabilities have more than doubled in the past year. They rose from 6 percent in 2024 to 14 percent in 2025.\n\nOverall attacks appear to have fallen. Forty-four percent of businesses report an incident in the past year, down from 59 percent previously.\n\nBut the impact remains serious. Seventeen percent say personal information was accessed or stolen. One in five incidents involved financial extortion.\n\nEight percent of affected organisations paid a ransom. Among those asked to pay, 42 percent agreed to the demand.\n\nDisruption is common. About a fifth of businesses say attacks stopped them accessing systems or serving customers.\n\nThe findings broadly match data from the National Cyber Security Centre. It reports fewer incidents in recent years but rising financial losses.\n\nBusinesses also want stronger policy responses. More than a third favour mandatory reporting of major cyber attacks. Others support harsher penalties for companies that fail to protect personal data.\n\n* * *\n\n## Sign up for Bill Bennett\n\ntelecommunications + technology from a New Zealand perspective\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.\n\n## In other news...\n\n  * AI reduces on hold wait times — The Post.\n_Next time you call, you could be talking to a bot._\n  * Amazon wants US regulators to reject SpaceX data centre application — The Register.\n_Data centre giant opposes orbiting competition._\n\n\n\n* * *\n\n## Datagrid pivots to AI as it secures consent\n\nDatagrid New Zealand has secured resource consent for its planned Makarewa data centre which it is now calling an ‘AI factory’.\n\nThe facility would use up to 280MW of power and the Tasman Ring Network cable landing at Oreti Beach.\n\nTasman Ring would give the South Island its first direct international submarine data link. It strengthens the region’s data centre case.\n\n* * *\n\n## Chorus Express Connect adds CDC Silverdale and Datacom Gloucester\n\nChorus announced availability of its Express Connect data centre service at two more sites: CDC Silverdale and Datacom Gloucester (Christchurch). The company says these join previously announced connections at Datacentre220 and T4 Group Tihi and will shortly be joined by connections to Datacom Wellington and CDC Hobsonville.\n\n* * *\n\n## One NZ picks Highlight for performance visibility\n\nOne New Zealand has chosen the Highlight Service Observability Platform to give managed service customers clearer visibility into network performance, service levels and value.\n\nHighlight says this means One’s service desk can “move beyond traditional IT service management processes to achieve centralised visibility as well as offering customers optional access to the Highlight dashboard for full transparency”.\n\nIt replaces time-intensive manual reporting by scheduling automatic reports.\n\n* * *\n\n## Foreign tech companies behind NZ online scam code\n\nTech giants Google, Meta and TikTok are founding signatories of the New Zealand Online Scams Code along with Tech New Zealand.\n\nThe voluntary code aims to tackle online scams, spanning blocking, reporting, takedowns, advertising, email/messaging, law enforcement, intelligence sharing, consumer communications and future-proofing. It is based on Australia's Online Scams Code, developed by Australian industry association Digital Industry Group Inc.\n\n* * *\n\n## Catriona Robinson to head National Cyber Security Centre\n\nCatriona Robinson, currently the associate deputy secretary immigration at MBIE, is the new NCSC head. She previously spent five years at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) as the director of National Security Systems.\n\n* * *\n\n## This time last year the ComCom recommended deregulating rural copper\n\nThe Commerce Commission issued a draft recommendation to remove regulations governing Chorus’ copper network in areas beyond the reach of the UFB fibre network.\n\nFive years ago Vocus called time on its planned New Zealand IPO, a move that led eventually to the merger of its companies, by then under the Orcon name, with 2degrees.\n\nFrom 10 years ago:\n\nRoss Patterson: Government-funded fibre makes senseFormer telecommunications commissioner Ross Patterson defends the case for the New Zealand government’s investment in a FTTP network.Bill BennettBill Bennett\n\n_**Download Weekly** is a New Zealand telecommunications industry newsletter. You are welcome to pass it on to your friends and colleagues. While the newsletter is free, reader support helps enormously. If you’re reading this for work, donations are tax-free. There's a banner at the top of the page that will take you to the support site._\n\n_**Have your say**. Sign up as a subscriber, it is free, to comment on any of the stories on this site. We don’t collect any personal data other than an email address._\n\n****The Download Weekly is supported by Chorus New Zealand.****",
  "title": "3G shutdown enters final phase",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-08T20:48:16.940Z"
}