Connecting Makaraka - A Case Study to Provide Connectivity in the Rural Area of New Zealand

Broadband availability is an important asset for deriving change in the societal and economic development of a country. New Zealand's rural areas have limited broadband connectivity and there are some beautiful tourist destinations which do not have broadband availability on site. In this paper, we aim to provide a broadband connectivity model for basic and high speed data services for the area of Makaraka in the Gisborne region of New Zealand. The model proposes the placement of the access points, their channel selection scheme, transmit power requirements and appropriate installation height in detail for different frequency bands and data rate requirements. It is evident from the simulated results that outdoor area of Makaraka is able to get broadband connectivity which will help NZ to drive towards the theme of highly-connected society.