Samsung gets a 5G Spark in New Zealand

Korean tech giant Samsung has scored a much needed 5G deal win with Kiwi operator Spark.

Every day we hear about the latest 5G-related achievement from Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei. Even ZTE seems to be rediscovering its mojo after the traumas of 2018. But it’s easy to forget that Samsung has a networking division to go with nearly every other part of the tech and industrial world it seems to have a toehold in.

So it almost came as a surprise to hear that Spark, which vies with Vodafone for be the number one MNO in New Zealand, is getting Samsung involved in building its 5G network. Spark has been trying out Samsung’s ‘end-to-end’ gear for 5G testing for a year or so. The narrative would have us believe that the trials went so well, Spark decided to double down on Samsung, which will now be providing it with 5G NR massive MIMO radios.

“We are pleased to have Samsung as a 5G vendor for our mobile services,” said Rajesh Singh, General Manager of Value Management of Spark New Zealand. “Not only are they able to offer us a huge amount of global best practice and network infrastructure knowledge, they can also provide a proven immersive 5G experience for our customers. One of the main reasons we selected Samsung was their 5G NR solutions which deliver enhanced network capability, high quality connections, and state of the art technology.”

“We are excited to begin this collaboration with Spark, which is a big step in bringing the power of 5G to New Zealand,” said WooJune Kim, Head of Global Sales & Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are looking forward to helping Spark unlock the future of mobile connectivity, and are ready to support the new level of 5G experiences they will deliver to their customers with our next generation network solution.”

Samsung has been getting lots of 5G work in South Korea, which seems to be giving it a good shop window to the rest of the world. With Chinese vendors being treated with caution by any country that wants to stay in America’s good books, MNOs keen on maintaining their multiple network supplier strategy may be increasingly inclined to give Samsung a second look.