A report to the police minister said the radio network was so old that it would soon be impossible to get replacement parts. "The current emergency services communications infrastructure is 20 to 30 years old, mostly insecure and obsolete, and increasingly expensive to maintain," the report read. "By 2023, all feasible measures to extend the life of the radio network will be exhausted. "If we fund a whole lot more sites there in order to meet the requirements of emergency services, then the public get the benefit of that as well." The current radio network covers about 75 per cent of the country, while the cell network reaches about 90 per cent.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 17, 2020 23:15 UTC