New Zealand operator Spark has released details of its next three-year strategy which will focus investment on data centres and new technologies, claiming it will ‘open up new commercialisation opportunities across its core markets of mobile and broadband while underpinning growth in new high-tech solutions’. Over the period, Spark plans to invest between NZD250 million (USD157 million) and NZD300 million in data centres and NZD40 million-NZD60 million in 5G Standalone (SA).

In a press release, Spark CEO Jolie Hodson explained the new strategy to FY26 would position the company for success in an increasingly uncertain environment. ‘If there is one thing the last three years have taught us, it is that the businesses that will thrive are the ones that can adapt the most quickly to change,’ she said. ‘We see a number of supportive tailwinds ahead of us, including the continued exponential growth in data, acceleration of technology convergence, the return of international travel, and rising levels of immigration.’

In mobile and broadband, Spark plans to use its data capability and 5G investment to deliver the latest personalised digital experiences. ‘Our dual brands of Spark and Skinny serve different ends of the price spectrum, we have a unique ability to target the right product to the right customer at the right time through data, and our 5G coverage is densifying,’ Hodson claimed, adding: ‘This sets us up to continue to grow value in mobile and to move wireless broadband towards 35% of our base by the end of FY26.’

In its high-tech portfolio, Spark will focus on IoT, 5G SA, data and artificial intelligence, and digital identity. The company said it would use those capabilities to continue growing its digital health services brand Spark Health. The company noted that although these technologies are currently operating largely independently of each other, it now seeing the rapid acceleration of convergence. ‘When you consider the challenges businesses are facing – from inflation and labour shortages, to climate change and increasing regulation – there is a big role for technology to play in helping us do things differently. We have grown Spark IoT from under a quarter of a million connections to 1.2 million today,’ Hodson said.

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