NZ Broadband Prices Very Competitive – OECD

NZ BROADBAND PRICES VERY COMPETITIVE – OECD

New Zealand broadband customers are getting good value. And New Zealand is doing well getting broadband to rural areas, the OECD has also found.

Telecom Chief Executive Theresa Gattung said two OECD reports just published showed the big advances that New Zealand has made in reducing prices and getting coverage to rural areas.

“The OECD rates Telecom the sixth cheapest broadband provider among 30 OECD countries using DSL technology.

“Sixth out of 30 countries means that customers are getting a very good deal for their money.

“The price survey was done before we launched new plans in April including an even lower price of $39.95 a month for broadband.

“We believe with our competitive pricing and our plans to provide coverage to virtually all New Zealanders we will reach our ambitious target of broadband in 250,000 homes by the end of next year.

Ms Gattung said that when the OECD did its survey late last year, it reported that New Zealand had got broadband coverage to 84.8% of customers – compared with 75% in Australia.

“Since then we’ve been increasing coverage and have now reached 92% coverage. With wireless broadband from BCL that will be above 95% and with satellite coming very soon, broadband will be available to virtually 100% of customers.”

The OECD reported that, in addition to Telecom’s coverage, there was increasing broadband competition in rural New Zealand from fixed wireless providers. Some were acting under the Government’s Probe initiative and others were local initiatives.

The report said that Telecom’s partnership with Taranaki local bodies had delivered broadband to the region at no cost to the councils because demand had exceeded supply and the cost of the technology had decreased.

“The lower cost of DSL technology is certainly helping us get broadband to small pockets of customers, such as Great Barrier Island, which we have just announced.

“In the next couple of months alone we are going to be installing miniaturised DSL technology in 200 sites, which is more than we’ve ever done since we started the roll-out.

“It’s great to see the OECD acknowledging the progress that is being made so that more New Zealanders can get broadband at lower prices,” Ms Gattung said.

ENDS

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