Kiwis ring in the New Year with a record stream of data

This New Year’s Eve Kiwis rang in 2020 in massive numbers, with data used across Vodafone New Zealand’s mobile networks increasing by 34.9% compared to last year.

Nationally Kiwis consumed more than 121.96 terabytes of mobile data on New Year’s Eve*, compared to 90.41 terabytes of mobile data across the country during the same period on New Year’s 2018/19.

Volume wise, that’s roughly equivalent to streaming 81,307 hours of HD quality video in just six hours.

Vodafone New Zealand Technology Director, Tony Baird, said a lot of work went into making sure the Vodafone mobile network could handle such a massive surge.

“We’ve invested heavily into network upgrades throughout 2019, upgrading cell sites and adding additional mobile capacity via our cell sites on wheels (COWS), to bring faster speeds to support the growing number of holiday makers.

“When it comes to favourite places to ring in the New Year, Kiwis tend to either gather en masse in popular festivals like Rhythm & Vines in Gisborne, go camping or head to beachside baches and cribs to spend time relaxing and enjoying the break. We know how important it is to stay connected with family and friends, so ensuring our network is robust for Vodafone customers is vital,” Tony said.

Kiwis keen to send a short message of New Year’s wishes also sent 4.8 million TXT messages on New Year’s Eve, compared to 5.5 million TXT messages last year. That’s just about a 13.15% year on year decrease. As expected, the most popular time to send a New Year’s greeting was at midnight on 1st Jan, when approximately 1.1 million TXT messages were sent.

Tony added, “Over the past few years, we’ve seen the numbers of SMS messages decline as people turn to video services and messaging apps, and as phones continue to grow smarter. This means the volumes of data are on the rise, which is a trend that will no doubt continue. In turn, we will continue to upgrade our networks to include next generation technology like 4.5G and 5G so Vodafone customers stay connected for both work and play.”

New 4G capacity has been added to sites to ensure continued connectivity for customers in the area over the holiday period.** These include sites covering popular holiday destinations such as the Coromandel, Mount Maunganui, Rotorua, Taupo, Hanmer Springs and Queenstown just to name a few.

Festivals around the country that have increased capacity via COWS include the likes of Northern Bass in Mangawhai, Rhythm & Vines in Gisborne, Bay Dreams Nelson and Gibbston Valley Concert near Queenstown.

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