Rotorua households using more broadband than average

Jonathon Hagger is not surprised Rotorua is using so much broadband. Photo/Stephen Parker

Rotorua households are consuming more broadband data than anywhere else in the Bay of Plenty and more than the national average.

New figures released by Chorus show the average Rotorua household used 189GB of broadband data last month, a 19.6 per cent increase on the same time last year.

Nationally, the average New Zealand home used 185GB of data.

The figures show Rotorua had the highest broadband data usage in the Bay of Plenty, with Whakatane at 161GB, Opotiki at 147GB, Western Bay of Plenty at 129GB and Tauranga at 119GB.

However, that gap is closing with other Bay of Plenty cities' usage growing between 32.2 per cent (Tauranga) and 56.4 per cent (Opotiki) in the last year.

Chorus puts Rotorua's growing broadband usage down to surging demand for streaming services.

Local internet user Jonathan Hagger said the statistics didn't surprise him at all.

"The days of DVD players and Freeview are long gone out the window.

"We no longer have the family sitting around the television, we can have multiple devices around the house streaming all at once."

Hagger said his children were also using services like Netflix.

"Even with the traditional services, like Sky, we're using SkyGo rather than the box sitting under the television."

Chorus network strategy manager Kurt Rodgers said faster broadband was an "integral part" of many New Zealanders' day-to-day lives.

"Many Kiwi homes now have several connected devices going at any one time. We're using far more data and requiring faster and more reliable broadband speeds."

The average fibre uptake for the country is 43 per cent.

Rotorua is above that, and the fifth highest uptake in the country, at 47 per cent.

"People's viewing habits have shifted online. It's now very mainstream to watch television shows and movies via an app on a smart television or tablet," Rodgers said

"With faster broadband it means you can potentially have each member of a household streaming a programme on a different device all at the same time, without facing long delays or frustrating buffering."

Rodgers said with the way broadband data was now used, broadband plans with data caps were no longer practical.

"More and more consumers want the freedom and flexibility of unlimited plans. These plans are competitively priced and take away the fear of chewing through your data allowance and incurring extra charges."

Local Chris Wikiriwhi said in his work as a mechanic he often used Google and YouTube to learn new techniques and to upskill.

At home his family subscribe to Netflix.

"We love it, the struggle is now trying to get the kids out to the park and off the TV.

"The kids love it, we definitely use it more than normal TV, the only things we use that for are the news and Shortland Street."

He said among his friend group they were often talking about their latest online finds.