Speed Boost Confirmed For New Zealand's Most Popular Fibre Broadband Plans

Download speeds have tripled for consumers on New Zealand’s most popular fibre broadband plans, the Commerce Commission confirms.

In November 2021, fibre wholesalers, including Chorus, began offering increased speeds of 300 Mbps on 100 Mbps wholesale fibre connections, at no extra cost to retailers.

The Measuring Broadband New Zealand (MBNZ) report released today shows that those increased speeds have been passed on to customers by their retailers.

“It’s great to see these higher speeds now flowing through to our reported results, which show that average download speeds have increased to 314 Mbps,” said Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson.

He noted that these results highlight the difference between popular fibre plans and lower speed broadband technologies – including 4G wireless broadband and copper – particularly for households where more people are using the connection at the same time for high data use activities such as online gaming and video streaming.

“Ensuring consumers understand the speed they can expect from different technologies is critical to them choosing the broadband plan that best suits their needs. This reinforces why we issued our marketing guidelines last year, which has led to retailers using MBNZ results in their advertising.”

The summer report also shows that download speeds on the HFC Max plan, which is only offered by Vodafone, have now returned to expected levels. The Commission and independent testing partner SamKnows contacted Vodafone to investigate after the spring 2021 report showed that speeds had decreased by about 50%.

The Commission is currently considering feedback to shape the future direction of the MBNZ programme to ensure the Commission collects information that will help consumers choose the right broadband service. Consumers can complete the survey online.

The summer MBNZ report and an online dashboard detailing the results are available on the Commission's website.

Background

The Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme report was produced completed by SamKnows, a world leader in internet performance measurement. Data for this report was collected 1-31 December 2021.

The report provides independent information on broadband performance across different providers, plans, and technologies to help consumers choose the best broadband plan for their homes. Shining a light on actual broadband performance also encourages providers to compete on performance as well as price.
 

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