A massive landowner outreach and construction effort has seen transmission towers appear all over the country for the new PSN Land Mobile Radio network, with New Zealand’s three main centres almost completely built.
More than half (271) of the 500 sites required nationwide for the build of transmission towers for the LMR have been acquired; 93 sites are now built and ready for testing and 72 are currently under construction.
Wellington region build is complete, Canterbury has two transmission towers left to build, and Auckland is on track to be completely built by the first quarter of 2026. Between them these three regions cover 60 per cent of the country’s population.
Work is also underway on the acquisition and build of transmission towers on sites across the rest of the eight regions of the LMR network.
Once tested, each region will be handed over to the emergency services throughout 2026 and 2027 to begin their final testing and progressive transition to using the new radio network in each region.
While this build milestone is a significant one, the Land Mobile Radio network sites are not yet ready for live service.
Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC), Tait Systems NZ and the emergency services have begun a large, rigorous programme of work to gain assurance the new network will be fit for frontline responders to begin using from mid-2026 onwards.
“This phase is about making sure that when our emergency responders push the button on their radios using the new network, it works every time. The safety of emergency responders and the public they serve depends on it,” says Next Generation Critical Communications Director, Steve Ferguson.