Comms Connect New Zealand to feature a ministerial welcome

The Southern Hemisphere’s premier critical communications and public safety event, Comms Connect, will hold its New Zealand conference and expo from 27–28 May at the Tākina Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The 11th edition of Comms Connect New Zealand will feature the first-ever joint Ministerial Welcome on the opening day, with Communications Minister the Hon Paul Goldsmith and Emergency Management & Recovery Minister the Hon Mark Mitchell set to open proceedings at Wellington Tākina on 27 May.

The event will also open with headline presentations from the Director and Technical Director of Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC), Steve Ferguson and Steve Lawrence, who will share the exciting next steps for expanding their Public Safety Cellular Network Service beyond public safety and into the broader NZ business and industry infrastructure. NGCC is evolving PSN from a focused emergency service initiative into a broader, high-resilience communications ecosystem, and has shifted from initial rollout to expanding cellular services to hundreds of new eligible organisations.

The accompanying conference will meanwhile see presentations by over 30 expert speakers covering the latest critical communications technologies, applications and case studies.

On Day 1 the Radio Spectrum Management team will be joined onstage by the Communications Minister to discuss the road ahead for spectrum management in New Zealand, and the first-ever Women in Critical Comms panel session will close out the day, with leaders from Hourua, NGCC, ACCF and RSM already locked in.

Cybersecurity, mmWave and embedded antenna presentations, along with a case study from New Zealand Defence Force, will round out a strong day one program.

Day two will have an artificial intelligence and technology focus, including an AI case study from Surf Life Saving NSW and an AI in Emergency Services Communications presentation from senior industry analyst Louise Francis from Ecosystm. A range of local industry case studies will follow before the event closes with an expert panel discussing the reality versus hype of AI as it relates to the critical communications and public safety sectors.

TCCA CEO Kevin Graham will also share global critical comms insights from his attendance at CCW, MWC and IWCE in the past three months.

Over 45 technology vendors will also be on hand at Tākina Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre over the two days, headlined by Gold Sponsors, Broadtech/Tu Atea, Cable Ways, Complete-Coms, Pivotel and Tait Communications, showcasing the latest technology and solutions, both local and global, giving event attendees the chance to examine products up close, witness exclusive demonstrations, and ask all their burning questions.

The event is being run with the support of the Radio Frequency Users Association of New Zealand (RFUANZ), which will be holding its AGM at the conference venue after lunch on day one and its annual gala dinner following the day one networking drinks. The dinner will include the presentation of the RFUANZ Industry Excellence Awards, which are a celebration of outstanding achievement and a way to acknowledge the many forms of excellence in the NZ communications industry. Awards nominations can be made at rfuanz.org.nz/awards until 17 April, while dinner registration is available at rfuanz.org.nz/gala-dinner.

For more details on the conference and exhibition, or to register for your ticket, visit www.comms-connect.co.nz. Discounts are available for group registration and early-bird rates are available until 22 April.

What: Comms Connect New Zealand
When: 27–28 May 2025
Where: Tākina Wellington Convention & Exhibition Centre
Web: www.comms-connect.co.nz