Spark has launched a limited 5G service in Alexandra, giving five invited customers a free opportunity to see what difference the latest generation of mobile technology could make to wireless home and business broadband.

The service, which utilises spectrum in the 2.6GHz radio band, muddies the water over who is first to 5G, after Vodafone announced in August that it would launch a commercial 5G service in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown in December.

Spark technical change manager Colin Brown said it had provided free 5G-capable modems to its first customers in Alexandra, who had seen about a four-to-five times improvement in their broadband speeds on a like-for-like for comparison with 4G.

Spark planned to provide 5G wireless broadband in another five "heartland" New Zealand towns before Christmas and then in additional locations early next year, he said.

But access would continue to initially be by invitation, Brown said.

One of the biggest drawbacks of wireless broadband plans is they currently come with relatively restricted data caps of 120 to 180 gigabytes a month, because of the constraints of the technology.

But Brown said 5G could pave the way for plans with higher or "unlimited" data caps, as well as improving the quality of connections. 

"Unlimited probably isn't ruled out once we get more coverage."

Vodafone, unlike Spark, has access to some spectrum in the 3.5GHz band which is best supported for 5G by mobile handset makers.

Spark is expected to have to wait until around the middle of next year to get early access to that band, which is then due to be re-packaged and re-auctioned by November 2022.

Spark is using equipment from Nokia to provide its service in Alexandria, after announcing last month that it intended to pursue a "multivendor" strategy for 5G that would see suppliers – potentially including China's Huawei –  get only a slice of its pie.

One of Spark's first 5G customers is Alexandra business Xerra, whose chief executive Steve Cotter said in a statement supplied by Spark that it was a "game changer". 

5G could open the door to "unlimited' wireless broadband plans, says Spark technology change lead Colin Brown.

Xerra customises spatial data provided by satellite companies.

"One of our biggest challenges to grow as a regional startup has been poor connectivity. We work with large data sets and it used to take us up to four hours to download one image. Now, with 5G, we can do it in a matter of minutes," Cotter said.