Site Acquisition Planning and Property Advisory for Network Rollouts

Challenge

2degrees officially launched its mobile telecommunication service in 2009 and was New Zealand's third mobile phone network. To establish the brand in the market, 2degrees' previous entity, New Zealand Communications, needed to quickly establish its own nationwide network within a challenging environment. 4Sight (now SLR) provided the site acquisition expertise to enable the new entity to become established and has continued to be a valued partner in the various network rollouts. While Connexa now owns the passive mobile telecommunications tower assets of 2degrees, 2degrees continues to own the active elements of its network and requires ongoing planning and professional services to support the new areas of development.

Solution

4Sight (now SLR) has successfully delivered the site acquisition services including planning and property advisory for the various programmes since 2005 and is now the sole source provider of planning services to 2degrees.

Our Property team were a key provider of site acquisition services for 2degrees’ developing telecommunication network, and were instrumental in acquiring the occupation rights for network sites nationwide. This included desktop research, candidate selection, on-site design surveys, and securing the necessary occupation rights with owners and other stakeholders.

Our Planning team provided extensive support for 2degrees, gaining resource consents for over 600 sites across New Zealand. Through this work, our Planning team have become technical experts in the implementation of the National Environmental Standards for Telecommunication Facilities (NESTF), as well as the differing planning requirements of 61 territorial local authorities.

Our work for 2degrees has included:

• Providing initial planning assessments for new sites and identifying likely resource consent risks;
• Identifying potential community risks from establishing sites, particularly in residential areas;
• Liaison and relationship building with key territorial local authorities;
• Obtaining certificate of compliance or resource consents for everything from new site builds to site upgrades and relocations;
• Representing 2degrees at pre-hearing meetings and public hearings; and
• General policy and compliance advice.

Managing the coordination and delivery of the necessary consents, often in short timeframes, required a collaborative and flexible approach. Our Planners worked within 2degrees’ project teams and closely with 2degrees Project Managers for designated areas within New Zealand. The scale of the ongoing network build demanded a range of scalable planning skills, which we were able to deliver in an integrated manner to satisfy the client’s daily, monthly and annual milestones.

Impact

We have assisted 2degrees in providing a nationwide network of telecommunication facilities that delivers a high-quality mobile experience to its large customer base and an important third player in what was previously a monopoly-dominated telecommunications industry.

"4Sight [now SLR] has helped 2degrees with a huge cell site consenting programme since before 2degrees’ launch in 2009, delivering around 600 approvals for new sites and upgrades around the country. 4Sight’s [now SLR] staff integrate seamlessly into our project teams and provide robust advice and design input and have a thorough, but most importantly, efficient approach to our applications and Council relationships, which ensures we can meet extremely tight consenting timeframes on key projects. 4Sight [now SLR] are also adaptable and always willing to accommodate the changing needs of our business without a fuss."

Ben Blakemore, Head of Property, 2degrees

Image courtesy of 2degrees.