New Zealand Broadband More Than A Match In Trans-Tasman Comparison

A joint report comparing broadband services between Australia and New Zealand shows the performance of New Zealand Ultra-Fast Broadband compares well to Australia’s National Broadband Network.

The report, published by the Commerce Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), compares select fibre and fixed wireless plans in New Zealand with comparable plans in Australia.

Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson says the report confirms that the Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) network is providing New Zealanders with access to world-class broadband services.

“Our Measuring Broadband New Zealand (MBNZ) quarterly reports have demonstrated the excellent speed and performance New Zealand consumers are experiencing. This report shows that our UFB network stacks up well against the best our neighbours have to offer. By the end of 2022, 87% of New Zealanders should have the ability to connect to fibre.”

The report presents performance data for three selected comparable broadband products, focusing on broadband speed and access technology, based on data recorded in the two countries last September.

“In the period since testing for this report was conducted, fibre wholesalers, including Chorus, have begun offering increased speeds of 300 Mbps on the 100 Mbps wholesale fibre connections at no extra cost to retailers, which means we now have even faster internet compared to Australia,” says Mr Gilbertson.

The report shows that Australian consumers receive faster download speeds on 4G fixed wireless networks than consumers in New Zealand.

ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey says, “Benchmark reports like this are an opportunity to see where improvements can be made. From Australia’s perspective, the report reaffirms that the NBN is performing well but there are lessons we can take from New Zealand’s fibre services, particularly as we review the NBN regulatory framework.”

In both countries, there is a significant difference between the performance of fibre and fixed wireless broadband connections.

“The difference in performance demonstrates the value of providing this information to consumers to help them make informed decisions about the type of broadband that is right for them,” says Mr Gilbertson.

“This reinforces why we issued our marketing guidelines last year, which has led to retailers using MBNZ speed results in their advertising.”

The report is available on the Measuring Broadband New Zealand reports webpage.

Background

New Zealand and Australia both have broadband testing programmes with independent testing provider SamKnows.

The programme provides consumers with independent information on broadband performance across different providers, plans and technologies, to help them choose the best broadband for their household. Shining a light on actual broadband performance encourages telecommunications providers to compete on performance and not just price.

The programme is delivered by SamKnows, a world leader in internet performance measurement, covering almost half of the world’s internet population. More information about SamKnows can be found at www.samknows.com.

In both Australia and New Zealand, broadband is also offered over copper (ADSL and VDSL), and fixed wireless broadband over 5G. These were not chosen to be compared in this report because they either differed in how they were offered in each country (‘best efforts’ vs speed tiers), not within the scope of both countries’ programs, or there was not enough data in the September testing window to be statistically robust.

We are currently reviewing the future of our Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme to continue to provide consumers and the industry with information about broadband performance. Our intention is that the next version of the programme will test and report on more technologies, providers and geographies. More information about our review can be found on our website.

© Scoop Media