The New Zealand government has approved plans to allocate short-term rights to 160MHz of unused frequencies in the 3.5GHz band to mobile network operators and the Maori community next year, according to ZDNet. Kris Faafoi, the Telecommunications Minister, confirmed an auction will be held for the available spectrum from the middle of next year, with the rights running until 31 October 2022, by which time plans for a longer-term allocation of the spectrum will have been finalized.