The Commerce Commission today released its 2011 telecommunications annual monitoring report analysing the state of New Zealand's telecommunications markets.

"Most notably we've seen a fall in market concentration in all sectors which indicates that competition is becoming more intense. Consumers are being offered a more diverse range of competitively priced services, often bundled together in one package," said Dr Ross Patterson, Telecommunications Commissioner.

Although the report focuses on the 2011 year, it also tracks developments in the market since 2006.

"A significant change we've seen since our last report is that the consumption of mobile data has doubled in the 2010/11 year. This increased consumption is accompanied by a substantial decrease in the price of mobile data and reflects the growing popularity of accessing the internet using mobile devices like smart phones and tablets."

"Another trend is that the number of fixed broadband connections has been steadily increasing since 2006, and we expect to see this trend continue. Viewed alongside the decrease in revenue for fixed line voice services, the increasing importance of internet connectivity for consumers is clear," said Dr Patterson.

Other key findings of the report include:

  • revenue from mobile broadband is showing strong growth while mobile voice revenues are starting to decline
  • while the number of fixed line telephone connections is stable, the number of fixed broadband connections continues to grow steadily
  • total retail telecommunications revenues have barely changed over the last six years while investment increased from $0.92 billion in 2008/09 to $1.24 billion in 2010/11
  • the fixed line retail market has falling revenue for most services with only internet revenue rising
  • consumers are happy with the mobile switching experience.

The 2011 report is available on the Commission's website: www.comcom.govt.nz/telecommunications-market-reports

Background

Today's report is the fifth annual telecommunications market monitoring report produced by the Commission. It is part of the Commission's on-going monitoring of the evolution of competition in the telecommunications sector in New Zealand.

The Commission monitors the state of competition because it regulates telecommunications markets for the long term-term benefit of end-users of telecommunications services in New Zealand.

Telecommunications markets are complex and a range of indicators have to be analysed to provide an indication of the overall state of competition.

This report is released under section 9A of the Telecommunications Act 2001, which requires the Commission to monitor telecommunications markets and make available reports, summaries, and information resulting from carrying out these functions.