Narrowband  |  2025-10-28

Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC) and Hourua Provide Emergency Network Visibility to Support Southland’s Disaster Response

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

With reports indicating that up to 130 cell towers were out of service at the peak of the storm, the PSN Cellular Network Visibility Service proved vital in supporting situational awareness and operational planning.

In response to widespread communication outages caused by severe storms across Southland, New Zealand's southernmost region, Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC) rapidly provided Emergency Management Southland and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) with temporary access to the new Public Safety Network (PSN) Cellular Network Visibility Service.

The innovative service, launched in September by Minister Mark Mitchell, has been developed by NGCC in collaboration with vendor Hourua. It consolidates network data from Spark and One NZ into a single, centralised digital platform, offering emergency and operational teams an integrated view of cellular network availability and performance.

With reports indicating that up to 130 cell towers were out of service at the peak of the storm, the PSN Cellular Network Visibility Service proved vital in supporting situational awareness and operational planning. By providing near real-time information on where cellular coverage was disrupted, the service enabled faster and more informed decision-making by Southland’s emergency coordination teams.
Geoff Welch, Environment Southland’s Team Leader GIS, expressed appreciation for the swift deployment of the service.

“We have been using it to check cell coverage potential for Welfare and Operational staff before they head out to an area, and also for our flood monitoring teams to check the disruption areas affecting the few remote sites that have lost telecom connection back to them. It has been very useful for both, as has the speed with which the team (NGCC and Hourua) were able to grant us access, which is vital in these response situations,” Welch said.

Steve Ferguson, Director of NGCC, noted the importance of rapid collaboration and deployment.

“When the call came, we were pleased to bring together NGCC’s experts and Hourua to quickly activate the Cellular Network Visibility Service for Emergency Management Southland and NEMA. We scoped their requirements, provided same-day activation, and trained personnel in their emergency management centres so they could immediately integrate the network data into their decision-making,” Ferguson said.

In addition to the visibility service, other PSN Cellular Services are actively supporting frontline emergency responders across Southland. Fire, ambulance, and police personnel equipped with PSN SIM cards can roam seamlessly between the Spark and One NZ networks. This redundancy ensures continued connectivity even when one network is unavailable.

Furthermore, an additional PSN Cellular Service prioritises emergency communications traffic, ensuring that critical voice and data transmissions receive precedence when cell sites are congested or degraded — a crucial capability in times of crisis.

Through rapid activation and collaboration, NGCC and Hourua have demonstrated the essential role of reliable, interoperable communication solutions in safeguarding communities and supporting New Zealand’s emergency response operations.