7 May 2024
Māori spectrum and telecommunications service provider Tū Ātea unveiled their off-grid, private network offerings, Kāhu and Tūī, at the 2024 TUANZ Rural Connectivity Symposium in Rotorua. The company partners with New Zealand company Shape Technology, experts in off-grid power systems, to develop its compact rapid deployable solutions.
One of the challenges in keeping telecommunications services running in remote rural locations, is the energy needed to keep them running, and notably in extreme weather events.
Kāhu is designed to provide private 4G & 5G services initially, and neutrally-hosted commercial mobile coverage in the most remote environments – running autonomously for several months without the need for generator top up.
The Kāhu unit is a solar-only off grid private 5G service designed to be easily manoeuvred onto or off the back of a trailer by two humans, for semi-permanent deployments. In contrast, the Tūī unit has both solar and generator capability and is mounted on wheels. It is more easily manoeuvrable for temporary applications. The high-spec diesel 'genset' inside Tūī keeps this 4G or 5G unit running for several months without the need for topping up.
The Kāhu unit provided connectivity for the Waka Ama National Secondary School Championships at Tikitapu, Blue Lake, Rotorua – which traditionally has no mobile coverage. The event had several thousand competitors and their supporters. The unit supported the livestream and remote broadcast team and backhaul was provided by Starlink satellite connectivity.
Both Kāhu and Tūī units are offered as a network as a service.