Thousands have joined organised Pokemon Go walks around the country as the smartphone game grips the nation. Photo / Andrew Warner
Thousands have joined organised Pokemon Go walks around the country as the smartphone game grips the nation. Photo / Andrew Warner
New Zealand is one of the worst places in the world to live if you want to avoid roving hordes of Pokemon hunters. Thousands have joined organised Pokemon Go walks around the country as the smartphone game grips the nation.
And New Zealand's biggest telco Spark, which has 2.2 millionmobile users, reports a 10 per cent surge in mobile data use in the past two weeks. The company has also seen a tenfold hike in sales of mobile batteries as Pokemon fanatics clamour for back-up power.
Improved internet coverage in recent years means Kiwis have better mobile access to the web than most other countries, which means there are few places to escape the Pokemon hunters, Spark spokesman Sam Durban said.
"New Zealand now punches well above its weight. More than 97 per cent of places where people live, work and play get coverage and 4G is rapidly catching up."
Durban said the recent uplift in mobile data use was "significant".
"The nearest thing we have had to the countrywide Pokemon phenomenon was during the Rugby World Cup in 2011 but coverage has got a lot better since then.
"We have never seen a single app drive the amount of traffic over a concentrated period as Pokemon Go has. It has been insane."
For those wanting to escape the Pokemon madness, the good news is there are still a few places where smartphones struggle to get a signal.
