Almost half of the people over 50 surveyed said they did not know what speed they were on. Photo / 123rf
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ
Are you paying for more broadband than you really need?
Research from comparison site NZ Compare has found that many older New Zealanders, in particular, are paying too much, because they are not shopping around – and because they have been “speedwashed” into thinking they need a faster connection than might actually be the case.
NZ Compare chief executive Gavin Male said the research looked at people aged over 50 and found widespread confusion, particularly about broadband speeds.
He said people were being sold faster, more expensive plans than they needed.
Speed was cited as an important factor in choosing a plan, but almost half of the people surveyed said they did not know what speed they were on.
Male said, for most people, a reliable 100Mbps (megabits per second) fibre connection was enough to stream, work from home, shop, video-call family and manage bills online.
A 100Mbps fibre connection might cost about $35 less a month than a 500Mbps plan, he said.
“There’s a lot of talk about you need the fastest connectivity, you need to be on gigabit plans and all of this stuff, but really, when fibre originally launched in the country, the 100Mbps speed was the top speed that everyone had and everyone was amazed at what that could do. A lot of people’s usage hasn’t really changed that much in the last two to three years that you now need 10 times that speed.
“My own household, for example, with teenage children, we sit there on 100Mbps speed and we can stream on four, five devices at the same time. It’s more than enough for most households.”
Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen agreed it was important to get a connection speed that matched the way a household used the internet.
“Take a two-person household – my in-laws. They have one television, two phones and a tablet between them.
“They’re not going to need the same speed as my two-person household, where we have two televisions, laptops, tablets, e-readers, I work from home and like to play games, and the kids come home and want to watch all the content.
“Absolutely, assess your needs and adjust accordingly.”
Consumer product test writer Nick Gelling said choosing the right plan could be challenging.
“Most households likely do have a faster connection than they need, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” he said. “It’s better to have too much bandwidth than not enough and plans tend to not be granular enough to match your needs perfectly.
“In June 2025, Chorus – the wholesaler that operates most of the fibre network – increased the speed of its two most popular fibre plans for no extra cost, so if the plan below yours is now more capable than it was when you signed up, it could be worth moving down a level.”
Brislen said the best thing to do was shop around every 12 months and see what was available.
“Telcos are always trying to attract customers away from each other and I encourage that, but I think, if you see an offer from a competitor, you could very easily get the same offer from your current provider by letting them know you’ve seen it. I’ve done that a few times – not just with telco, but with all kinds of services – and it often works well.”
Male agreed shopping around was important. He said a level of apathy stopped people from looking for better options.
“People don’t seem to understand that, in particular, once you’ve got fibre already installed, you don’t have to go through that whole process that they’ve had in the past, where they had to literally install the actual hardware.
“Now, once it’s in, it’s very much like switching your power provider. It’s just easy to jump from one to the other.
“Switching and shopping around is the best way to get a competitive price. A quick comparison check can deliver savings of up to $400 to 500 a year.”
He said providers generally reserved their best deals for new customers.
“It’s about acquiring [those] customers, because they know, as a general rule, Kiwis are very loyal. Once they are in with someone, they don’t churn.
“They’ll give a great deal to get someone in the door, because once they’ve got them, they’ll sneak the price up. That’s been happening for years – the odd $5 price rise here and there.
“A $5 increase every month is $60 a year and, if you do that every year, it soon adds up.”
Meanwhile, Commerce Commission telecommunications commissioner Tristan Gilbertson said consumers may struggle to understand what they could be paying, because offers in the market were complex.
The commission issued guidelines that required providers to state a monthly average price, when that was different from an advertised price, and make standardised offer summaries available.
It was also looking at early-termination fees.
“Early-termination fees are a recurring pain point for consumers, either because they didn’t realise they signed up to them or because it’s not clear what the exit costs are, when a better deal comes along,” Gilbertson said.
The guidelines require early-termination fees to be prominently disclosed upfront to consumers and reduce over the period of the contract. Providers must also ensure their customers can easily find out how much is left to pay at any point in time.
– RNZ