Telecommunication companies are having to battle 5G conspirators who are burning down cellphone towers.

There have been 17 suspicious attacks or fires in the last six weeks.

Vodafone chief technology officer Tony Baird says the company spends a lot of money making sure New Zealanders can stay connected and stay safe, especially during the lockdown.

"To actually do all this destruction was very very disappointing and quite costly as well. On a number of fronts we were very unhappy."

Baird says in particular, parts of south Auckland have been hit very badly.

"Not as much capacity so the likelihood of congestion, slow broadband or internet capabilities on your mobile device, or if you're using wireless for your home broadband, you would've seen degraded performance."