The Commerce Commission’s first report from its enhanced broadband monitoring programme reveals fibre broadband services are consistently delivering less than 75% of the maximum speeds available.
The Measuring Broadband New Zealand Initial Findings Report, from independent testing partner SamKnows, uses speed and internet performance data collected from volunteers from 758 households during the month of October 2018.
“The big finding from this report is that while fibre broadband is delivering much faster speeds than copper-based services, it is not yet performing at its peak. This is especially the case for the highest speed fibre services, which consumers pay a premium price for,” Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Stephen Gale said.
“This report sets a benchmark for internet speed and performance in New Zealand. For fibre, it shows there’s much room for improvement for providers to get the service to perform at its best.”
The report confirms that fibre broadband is much faster than copper-based ADSL and VDSL services. It also shows that internet performances of different technologies are each relatively consistent throughout the day, even during peak evening times.
Dr Gale thanked the volunteers whose in-home Whiteboxes contributed to this first report and put out a renewed call for volunteers.
“While we’ve had more than 4,000 people sign up to be a volunteer, it’s a challenge to find the right mix of volunteers across technologies, plans, providers, and locations. We’ve still got 2,000 Whiteboxes up for grabs and the more volunteers we get, the more interesting comparisons we’ll be able to make, like how fixed wireless and cable technologies are performing and how providers are performing against each other,” Dr Gale said.
The Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme is designed to provide 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 will also encourage providers to compete on performance and not just price.
