NZ's ten fastest cities for broadband

Rotorua and Porirua have faster internet than major centres Auckland and Wellington, Chorus figures show. Photo / Supplied

Rotorua and Porirua have faster internet than major centres Auckland and Wellington, new figures released by Chorus show.

Dunedin has the fastest internet in the country by a long shot after winning the Chorus Gigatown competition, giving the southern city the fastest internet speeds in the southern hemisphere.

The telecommunication company showed Dunedin was way out in front of other New Zealand centres, with an average connection speed of 196Mbps. By comparison, North Shore - which is in second place - had an average speed of 54Mbps.

Auckland clocks in at 45.4Mbps, lagging behind North Shore City, Rotorua District (52.8Mbps), and Porirua City (47.7Mbps). Manukau City came in behind Auckland at 45Mbps.

The capital didn't make the top ten despite nearby centres Lower Hutt and Porirua placing.

Overall the cities all showed growth of over 50 per cent over the last 12 months, with Rotorua's connection speed jumping 84.6 per cent from 28.6Mbps to 52.8Mbps.

"The results show that New Zealanders are downloading, streaming TV and gaming at a huge rate," says Chorus network strategy manager Kurt Rodgers.

"Our use of new technology is also driving the increase in speed. It doesn't matter whether you live in the cities or live rurally, content is flying into our homes faster due to newer technology such as high definition online television and more interactive and complex online games."

"As a nation our average data use is growing fast. Last year we chewed through 1.5 exabytes (or 1,500,000,000 gigabytes) of data. That's a lot of information, emails, movies, music, and more being bundled and carried all over the country," Rodgers said.

New Zealand's top ten fastest cities for broadband

1. Dunedin City - 196.3Mbps
2. North Shore City - 54.3Mbps
3. Rotorua District - 52.8Mbps
4. Porirua City - 47.7Mbps
5. Auckland City - 45.4Mbps
6. Manukau City - 45Mbps
7. Lower Hutt City - 43.9Mbps
8. Masterton District - 43.4Mbps
9. Nelson City - 43Mbps
10. Papakura District - 42.7Mbps