Fibre uptake now 78.2 percent
Chorus added 5,000
net fibre connections in the September quarter, partly
offsetting the loss of 4,000 copper lines. Total fixed-line
connections increased by 1000 to 1.192 million.
The
network operator ended September with 1.152 million fibre
connections. Fibre uptake across its network footprint
(excluding other local fibre network areas) increased 0.3
percentage points to 76.2 percent. Uptake in Auckland,
Wellington and Dunedin was above 78 percent.
Average
monthly fibre data use reached 741 GB in September, up 11
percent year-on-year. July was the busiest month, averaging
760 GB per connection. Chorus recorded a peak network
throughput of 4.9 Tbps (terabits per second) during a
Fortnite update.
About 85 percent of fibre customers
are on plans offering speeds of at least 500 Mbps, including
25 percent on 1 Gbps or faster plans.
Chorus says
about 40,000 copper services remained at the end of
September, almost all outside its specified fibre
footprint.
Background: Fibre
networks in New Zealand
MBNZ monitoring programme
to continue
The Commerce Commission plans to continue
its independent Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme.
The regulator expects to appoint a new supplier for the
programme by mid-2027.
Stakeholder submissions broadly
supported the programme and its minimum testing
requirements. The Commission has removed packet loss (data
dropped in transit) from the baseline, giving future
suppliers more flexibility in their testing methods. The
programme measures broadband performance across providers
and technologies to help consumers compare
services.
One NZ adds eight mobile sites in
quarter
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One New Zealand says it completed work on 28
mobile network sites across the country between July and
September 2026. The majority, 22 sites, extended 5G
coverage. Of these, eight were new sites and 14 were
upgrades to existing sites. A further six sites were new
Rural Connectivity Group sites.
The telco says many
sites were identified as areas needing improvement by
customers who used the One Pin tool to report poor mobile
reception or no connectivity by dropping pins on a
map.
Background: Mobile
networks in New Zealand
EonFibre expands
trans-Tasman capacity
EonFibre now offers a 400G
option connecting New Zealand to Australia. One New
Zealand’s bandwidth infrastructure subsidiary says the new
option is for data centre operators, hyper-scalers, cloud
providers, carriers and enterprises supporting AI and other
data-intensive workloads.
It says the expansion
includes new high-capacity optical capability and additional
terrestrial transport capacity connecting international
infrastructure into EonFibre’s New Zealand network. The
programme includes installation, commissioning and
end-to-end testing across the international and domestic
transport path.
Chief executive Richard Mooney says:
“AI, cloud and data centre growth mean that customers
increasingly need to move very large volumes of data
reliably both between their sites in New Zealand and to
international markets.”
Spark takes 5G lead in
latest Opensignal report
Spark is New Zealand’s
best-performing 5G network according to the latest
Opensignal Mobile Network Experience Report. It wins four 5G
categories outright, including reliability, download speed,
coverage and time spent connected to 5G.
Spark also
took the overall download speed award, overtaking its rivals
after increasing average download speeds by nearly 60
percent over the past year. Its average 5G download speeds
increased by 40 percent.
However, 2degrees retains the
lead in network consistency and upload speeds. It wins both
Consistent Quality awards outright, scoring 83 percent for
the overall measure and 93.6 percent for 5G. It also takes
both upload speed awards, with average speeds of 13.5 Mbps
and 31.3 Mbps respectively.
Consistent Quality
measures whether a network is good enough to support typical
tasks on mobile devices.
More time on 5G
Spark
more than doubles the time its customers spend connected to
5G, increasing its score from 11.3 percent to 24.4 percent.
This sees it overtake One NZ, which previously led the
category.
Time on 5G measures the proportion of time
customers with 5G devices are actively connected to a 5G
network, rather than using 4G.
All three operators
improved their download and upload speeds over the year.
Opensignal attributes some of the improvement to increased
5G use and the
March 2026 shutdown of 3G networks.
Spark also
retains its longstanding lead in coverage. It wins both
overall Coverage and 5G Coverage, increasing its score by
0.7 points on a ten-point scale since the previous
report.
The October report is based on measurements of
real-world mobile network experience across New
Zealand.
Updated fibre map adds 39,165 land
parcels
The Commerce Commission has published its
2026 map of specified fibre areas (SFAs), showing where
specified fibre services are available. The update adds
39,165 land parcels, a 1.88 percent increase on last year.
The new SFAs took effect on 5 November 2026.
The
assessment uses information provided by Chorus and local
fibre companies Northpower Fibre, Tuatahi First Fibre and
Enable Networks.
SFA assessments help determine where
Chorus may withdraw copper fixed line services. Before doing
so, Chorus must also comply with the Copper Withdrawal Code.
If fibre is not available, nothing will change.
The interactive
map is on the Commission’s website.
In other
news…
— Without
3G ‘rural mobile coverage has gone backwards’ –
RNZ
Reports of poor coverage since the network
shutdown.
— Auckland
residents unable to stop telco towers being built near their
properties – RNZ
Anger over mobile network towers
in residential areas.
— Spark
investigates cause of South Island Eftpos outage –
Reseller News
Businesses left unable to process
electronic payments.
— American
voters overwhelmingly reject AI data centres –
404
Public sentiment a wake-up call for
industry.
ComCom consults on clearer
interest-free device plans
The Commerce Commission is
consulting on draft guidelines aimed at making interest-free
device plans clearer for consumers.
Its review found
the plans help consumers spread hardware costs with little
evidence of widespread harm. But some consumers
misunderstand what they owe if they lose a device, change
plans or switch providers.
The proposed guidelines
would ask retailers to explain key terms before purchase,
prompt customers to consider whether repayments fit their
budget, and make repayment details easy to access. They also
encourage providers to let customers choose a suitable
mobile plan without having to repay the device balance in
full.
The guidelines are non-binding. Submissions are
due by 1 December 2026.
Re:Mobile collects more than
95,000 phones in FY2026
Re:Mobile’s annual report
says the organisation has collected 95,384 phones in the
year to 31 March 2026, diverting 5,704 kg of mobile phone
material from landfill.
Collections rose during and
after the 3G shutdown, as consumers replacing older devices
were encouraged to recycle them.
Re:Mobile is a free
recycling scheme with more than 400 collection points
nationwide. Collected devices are refurbished, traded in or
recycled depending on their condition.
Since its
launch, Re:Mobile has collected 973,252 phones and raised
$248,570 for Sustainable Coastlines. New Zealand
Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen says
the results show the value of pairing clear consumer
information with accessible recycling options.
One NZ
opens Costco store-in-store
One New Zealand has
opened a branded retail outlet in the Costco Westgate
supermarket, staffed by One NZ employees.
This time
last year One NZ moved back into town
Five
years ago Hawaiki announced a submarine cable linking the
South Island to the US.
Hawaiki Nui was a
proposed 22,000km system linking South-East Asia, Australia
and the US, with branches to Christchurch, Dunedin and
Invercargill. Its original construction and 2025 service
dates passed. In 2024, BW Digital and Telin announced a
Hawaiki Nui 1: a 10,000km cable linking Australia, Indonesia
and Singapore, with an expected 2027 service
date.
Ten years ago Download Weekly covered
moves by Spark and Vodafone to bypass UFB
fibre.
Spark
and Vodafone both pushed hard with fixed wireless broadband
while Vodafone rebooted its hybrid fibre-coaxial
network. In part the two telcos wanted to avoid paying for
wholesale services from Chorus and other fibre companies but
there was the added bonus that the alternatives are
relatively unregulated.
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Chorus
data use climbs 11 percent in a year was first posted at
billbennett.co.nz.
Freelance journalist.
Auckland-based Bill Bennett writes technology and business stories that are directly relevant to New Zealand readers.
His emphasis is on telecommunications, but he also covers other aspects of technology and business. You can find his features in the New Zealand Herald and hear him regularly on RNZ Nine to Noon and the NZ Tech Podcast.
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