News and Events Welcoming Invercargill Airport to the eduroam family REANNZ have kicked off 2025 by welcoming its first New Zealand airport to the growing number of sites offering the world-wide roaming access service, eduroam. Invercargill Airport takes the honour, showing leadership for the sector by offering the eduroam service. eduroam is a secure, global roaming access service developed for the international research and education community. It provides researchers, educators and students simple, easy and secure connectivity from 25,000+ locations (including public hotspots, libraries, galleries and airports) across more than 100 countries. The Southland region is becoming increasingly connected with 24 sites from Gore to Oban, providing the REANNZ supported world-wide roaming access service thanks to the involvement of the Ministry of Education, Southern Institute of Technology, University of Otago, Te Kura and the Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa. There were 8.4 billion international eduroam authentications in 2024 across the 100 countries that offer the service. REANNZ Chief Executive Amber McEwen says it is fantastic to have Invercargill Airport on board and offering additional value to students, educators and researchers while on the move. Amber says that working with others to extend the number of locations offering eduroam, is all part of REANNZ’s efforts to bridge the digital divide by reducing barriers to connectivity. “Our ultimate goal is for all cities and towns in Aotearoa to have venues such as marae, museums and transport hubs enabled with eduroam which will enable students to study, research and collaborate across multiple locations. Julie Jack, Commercial and Business Development Manager at Invercargill Airport says they are proud to be New Zealand’s first airport to have eduroam, providing seamless and secure Wi-Fi access to students, researchers, and staff from participating institutions. “As a key gateway to Southland, we recognise the importance of connectivity in education and research. This initiative ensures that visitors can stay connected and productive while travelling through our airport, reinforcing our commitment to enhancing the experience of all travellers. We look forward to seeing the positive impact Eduroam will have for the academic community in our region.” About eduroam eduroam (which is short for ‘education roaming’) is the worldwide roaming access service developed for the international research and education community. eduroam allows students, researchers and staff from participating institutions to obtain internet connectivity at their campus or offices and when visiting other participating institutions. eduroam was developed and is maintained by GÉANT, the pan-Europe research and education network. In Aotearoa, eduroam is managed by REANNZ, the country’s advanced network for researchers and educators. Through eduroam, we connect up thousands of people across the sector. For more information, visit here.
