The Commerce Commission’s Annual Telecommunications Monitoring Report showed that fixed broadband data surged 37% in the first half of 2020.
The report revealed some interesting trends in the way Kiwis use broadband in their homes.
The surge kicked off during the first COVID-19 lockdown, indicating ongoing changes to the way Kiwis live and work. Average fixed broadband use increased from 207 gigabytes (GB) per month for 2019 to 284 GB for 2020.
“Our 2020 monitoring report includes the first COVID-19 lockdown period and it shows that changes in the way Kiwis worked, learned and played led to significant growth in fixed broadband usage,” said Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson.
As fibre becomes more widely available more homes are choosing Fibre over ADSL or VDSL which use outdated Copper connections. The number of Copper connections dropped 24% in 2020. This continues the trend seen in 2019 when copper broadband connection dropped 23%.
Household continue to drop landlines. Over half of household are now on ‘naked’ broadband – broadband but no phoneline.
“We are also continuing to see Kiwis moving off copper broadband connections onto fibre and other new technologies, with copper connections dropping to 28% of total broadband connections. In addition, residential landlines are continuing to decline in popularity, with more than half of household fixed line connections now purchased with no voice service,” said Mr Gilbertson.
This is a great time to compare broadband plans and check that you are still on the best broadband plan for your home. If you’re working at home more, need more data, want to upgrade to fibre, or ditch the landline – compare plans to find the best deal for your home.
