Vodafone gets five-year lease

11 February 2014Waipa District Council has granted Vodafone a five-year lease to continue operating its telecommunications equipment from the Te Awamutu water reservoir.

Vodafone has been operating equipment from the site since September 1994 and was seeking a renewed 25-year lease.

In a split 6-5 vote this morning, Councillors agreed to only renew the Vodafone lease for five years, and imposed two conditions:

• That Vodafone equipment operating at the site be independently tested, at Vodafone's cost, to ensure radio frequency levels were within permitted levels, and
• That Vodafone help pay for further planting around the perimeter of the site to help screen the equipment.

The new Vodafone lease will come into effect from September this year.

In March last year, Council approved a 24-year lease for another telecommunications company, Two Degrees, to operate from the same site in Te Awamutu. That lease expires in April 2037.

Ends

Media enquiries only: Jeanette Tyrrell (on behalf of Council) 027 5077 599