One NZ issue causing widespread internet outage across entire South, parts of North Island

· RNZ
Internet outage on 1 May 2026.Photo: screenshot / OneNZ

One NZ and 2degrees customers are experiencing outages to internet and calls across the country.

The telecom company said the issue was under investigation.

The South Island and the lower North Island were experiencing the outages heavily, with Christchurch and Wellington listing the most outages on One NZ's outage map.

The company acknowledged the widespread outages under one report.

"We're aware of an issue affecting some of our cell sites and internet across the Lower North Island and the South Island. This may result in intermittent or no service for some customers in these regions."

The company said some customers' internet or calls were dropping out, and it had opened One NZ Satellite access to more customers in affected areas.

"We're sorry for the disruption, and our teams are working hard to get everything back up and running as quickly as possible."

It said customers could still stay connected using WhatsApp calling, messaging, and data through its satellite service.

2degrees said on its website it also was aware of the outages.

"This is related to the widespread One NZ incident. One NZ is working to restore services," it said.

The website Downdetector was on Friday morning showing a spike in outages for One NZ, Spark and 2degrees.

A Spark spokesperson said there has been no impact to Spark's network from this issue.

Customers 'very frustrated'

Wellington IT company, IT NEAR U, told RNZ it had received 15 phone calls this morning from customers experiencing issues with One NZ.

Manager Craven Coetzee said customers were "very frustrated, they can't work".

Coetzee said he understood that outages happened and could not be be stopped, but it had brought a lot of issues for users.

Hutt resident Carey Griffiths said at first he thought the problem was at his end and spent ages trying to fix it.

He said he was annoyed not to get direct communication from One NZ.

AA centres closed

Automobile Association (AA) centres across the lower North Island and the whole South Island are closed as a result of the internet outages.

"We're working closely with local teams to manage this and will reopen services as soon as it's practical to do so," it said on social media.

The AA was asking people to check with their local centre before visiting.

"We appreciate everyone's patience and flexibility while this issue is being resolved."

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