Spark New Zealand marked IoT, digital health and sport segments as future growth drivers, adding them to its established wireless, broadband and cloud markets in its strategy for the next three fiscal years.

In a statement, chair Justine Smyth acknowledged it was commencing the strategy at a time of “global uncertainty” and Covid-19 (coronavirus) challenges, but added Spark was “also starting with strong market momentum”.

She noted the strategy, running to end-June 2023, builds on strong foundations Spark developed over the last fiscal three years, and remains focussed on customers, employees and supporting the country’s economic transformation.

CEO Jolie Hodson said the company will concentrate on a set of core capabilities which will differentiate Spark and provide better experiences for its customers, fuelling growth in established and future markets.

It also set targets for improving its sustainability performance, lifting digital equity and supporting New Zealand’s economic recovery.

Narrow divide
“Our purpose is to help all of New Zealand win big in a digital world, the key word being all,” Hodson said, noting more than 200,000 homes in the country have no internet connection, most due to “cost, or a lack of access or skills”.

She said this divide “has never been as stark as during Covid-19, and we want to work in partnership with government, businesses, and the community to drive meaningful change”.

Hodson said Spark would respond to growing customer demand for “digital experiences” by simplifying its business and a deep understanding of users: “we will achieve this through a more sophisticated use of data, AI and machine learning. Our sustained network investment will continue, with a focus on our 5G rollout and on building unconstrained capacity in wireless, which will allow us to respond to the increasing demand for data from our customers”.

She pointed to the launch of uncapped wireless broadband services today (16 September) as a “milestone” in meeting data demand.

The operator’s investment in “5G, edge computing and network slicing will open up new opportunities in wireless and enable smarter business services beyond connectivity alone”, Hodson said.

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