Whanganui and Ruapehu areas see large jump in broadband usage in 2021

Broadband usage in Whanganui went up 33 per cent and up 69 per cent in the Ruapehu over the last 12 months. Photo / Bevan Conley

Despite the region leaving lockdown more than three months ago, broadband consumption for Manawatū and Whanganui residents continues to increase.

New figures from Chorus network reporting show the average Whanganui home and small business used 281 gigabytes (GB) of broadband data in October this year compared to 213 GB in October 2019, an increase of 33 per cent.

The Ruapehu saw the largest jump in usage in the Manawatū-Whanganui region over that time period, increasing by a whopping 69 per cent.

The Rangitīkei had more modest numbers than Whanganui and Ruapehu, with an increase of 9 per cent.

Chorus network strategy manager Kurt Rodgers said the increasing data consumption had put connectivity at the forefront of what was essential in our home and working lives.

"In the first six weeks of the recent lockdown Chorus' fixed networks carried more than an exabyte of data. That's one billion gigabytes; it's more than all the data carried in 2015, the year Netflix launched in New Zealand.

"Lockdown forced us to change our online behaviours and adopt more digital tools and services in many aspects of our life.

Video calling, in particular, had become the new norm, Rodgers said, and it was not just for working-from-home and learning.

It was also for keeping in touch with friends and family.

"All this video drives more demand for data, and more demand for faster and reliable fibre broadband."

Ruapehu's massive increase can be attributed to more homes and businesses connecting to fibre in the last two years, as internet connectivity has become vital due to on-going Covid-19 restrictions.

In October 2019, there were just 27 fibre connections in Ruapehu. In October 2021, there were more than 1000 fibre connections.

Nationally, the average New Zealand home used about 515 GB of broadband data in the month of October this year compared with 329 GB at the same time in 2019, an increase of 57 per cent.

The demand for data shows no signs of slowing, prompting Chorus to announce its largest-ever performance upgrade for fibre customers.

The 'Big Fibre Boost' initiative will see Chorus work closely with broadband retailers to upgrade customers on its wholesale 100 Mbps [megabits per second] fibre service this year.

Where broadband retailers flow through the upgrade to their residential customers, the change will triple the download speed to 300 Mbps, while increasing the upload speed five-fold from 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps. Two business fibre plans are also set to benefit.

Chorus expects New Zealand to move up the world's broadband rankings, with its projections showing the country may move well into the top 10 for fastest broadband in the world by early 2022.

"In 2011, at the start of the Ultra-Fast Broadband build, 30 Mbps was considered a great broadband speed. In 2015, as Kiwis took streaming to heart, great broadband increased to 100 Mbps," Rodgers said.

"We recognise that it is now time to shift up a gear again to ensure New Zealanders can take real advantage of the connectivity available to them."