Chorus data use climbs 11 percent in a year

Fibre uptake now 78.2 percent

Chorus added 5,000 net fibre connections in the September quarter, partly offsetting the loss of 4,000 copper lines. Total fixed-line connections increased by 1000 to 1.192 million.

The network operator ended September with 1.152 million fibre connections. Fibre uptake across its network footprint (excluding other local fibre network areas) increased 0.3 percentage points to 76.2 percent. Uptake in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin was above 78 percent.

Average monthly fibre data use reached 741 GB in September, up 11 percent year-on-year. July was the busiest month, averaging 760 GB per connection. Chorus recorded a peak network throughput of 4.9 Tbps (terabits per second) during a Fortnite update.

About 85 percent of fibre customers are on plans offering speeds of at least 500 Mbps, including 25 percent on 1 Gbps or faster plans.

Chorus says about 40,000 copper services remained at the end of September, almost all outside its specified fibre footprint.

MBNZ monitoring programme to continue

The Commerce Commission plans to continue its independent Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme. The regulator expects to appoint a new supplier for the programme by mid-2027.

Stakeholder submissions broadly supported the programme and its minimum testing requirements. The Commission has removed packet loss (data dropped in transit) from the baseline, giving future suppliers more flexibility in their testing methods. The programme measures broadband performance across providers and technologies to help consumers compare services.

One NZ adds eight mobile sites in quarter

One New Zealand says it completed work on 28 mobile network sites across the country between July and September 2026. The majority, 22 sites, extended 5G coverage. Of these, eight were new sites and 14 were upgrades to existing sites. A further six sites were new Rural Connectivity Group sites.

The telco says many sites were identified as areas needing improvement by customers who used the One Pin tool to report poor mobile reception or no connectivity by dropping pins on a map.

EonFibre expands trans-Tasman capacity

EonFibre now offers a 400G option connecting New Zealand to Australia. One New Zealand’s bandwidth infrastructure subsidiary says the new option is for data centre operators, hyper-scalers, cloud providers, carriers and enterprises supporting AI and other data-intensive workloads.

It says the expansion includes new high-capacity optical capability and additional terrestrial transport capacity connecting international infrastructure into EonFibre’s New Zealand network. The programme includes installation, commissioning and end-to-end testing across the international and domestic transport path.

Chief executive Richard Mooney says: “AI, cloud and data centre growth mean that customers increasingly need to move very large volumes of data reliably both between their sites in New Zealand and to international markets.”

Spark takes 5G lead in latest Opensignal report

Spark is New Zealand’s best-performing 5G network according to the latest Opensignal Mobile Network Experience Report. It wins four 5G categories outright, including reliability, download speed, coverage and time spent connected to 5G.

Spark also took the overall download speed award, overtaking its rivals after increasing average download speeds by nearly 60 percent over the past year. Its average 5G download speeds increased by 40 percent.

However, 2degrees retains the lead in network consistency and upload speeds. It wins both Consistent Quality awards outright, scoring 83 percent for the overall measure and 93.6 percent for 5G. It also takes both upload speed awards, with average speeds of 13.5 Mbps and 31.3 Mbps respectively.

Consistent Quality measures whether a network is good enough to support typical tasks on mobile devices.

More time on 5G

Spark more than doubles the time its customers spend connected to 5G, increasing its score from 11.3 percent to 24.4 percent. This sees it overtake One NZ, which previously led the category.

Time on 5G measures the proportion of time customers with 5G devices are actively connected to a 5G network, rather than using 4G.

All three operators improved their download and upload speeds over the year. Opensignal attributes some of the improvement to increased 5G use and the March 2026 shutdown of 3G networks.

Spark also retains its longstanding lead in coverage. It wins both overall Coverage and 5G Coverage, increasing its score by 0.7 points on a ten-point scale since the previous report.

The October report is based on measurements of real-world mobile network experience across New Zealand.

Updated fibre map adds 39,165 land parcels

The Commerce Commission has published its 2026 map of specified fibre areas (SFAs), showing where specified fibre services are available. The update adds 39,165 land parcels, a 1.88 percent increase on last year. The new SFAs took effect on 5 November 2026.

The assessment uses information provided by Chorus and local fibre companies Northpower Fibre, Tuatahi First Fibre and Enable Networks.

SFA assessments help determine where Chorus may withdraw copper fixed line services. Before doing so, Chorus must also comply with the Copper Withdrawal Code. If fibre is not available, nothing will change.

The interactive map is on the Commission’s website.

In other news...

— Without 3G ‘rural mobile coverage has gone backwards’ - RNZ
Reports of poor coverage since the network shutdown.
— Auckland residents unable to stop telco towers being built near their properties - RNZ
Anger over mobile network towers in residential areas.
— Spark investigates cause of South Island Eftpos outage - Reseller News
Businesses left unable to process electronic payments.
— American voters overwhelmingly reject AI data centres - 404
Public sentiment a wake-up call for industry.

ComCom consults on clearer interest-free device plans

The Commerce Commission is consulting on draft guidelines aimed at making interest-free device plans clearer for consumers.

Its review found the plans help consumers spread hardware costs with little evidence of widespread harm. But some consumers misunderstand what they owe if they lose a device, change plans or switch providers.

The proposed guidelines would ask retailers to explain key terms before purchase, prompt customers to consider whether repayments fit their budget, and make repayment details easy to access. They also encourage providers to let customers choose a suitable mobile plan without having to repay the device balance in full.

The guidelines are non-binding. Submissions are due by 1 December 2026.

Re:Mobile collects more than 95,000 phones in FY2026

Re:Mobile’s annual report says the organisation has collected 95,384 phones in the year to 31 March 2026, diverting 5,704 kg of mobile phone material from landfill.

Collections rose during and after the 3G shutdown, as consumers replacing older devices were encouraged to recycle them.

Re:Mobile is a free recycling scheme with more than 400 collection points nationwide. Collected devices are refurbished, traded in or recycled depending on their condition.

Since its launch, Re:Mobile has collected 973,252 phones and raised $248,570 for Sustainable Coastlines. New Zealand Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen says the results show the value of pairing clear consumer information with accessible recycling options.

One NZ opens Costco store-in-store

One New Zealand has opened a branded retail outlet in the Costco Westgate supermarket, staffed by One NZ employees.

This time last year One NZ moved back into town

Around 1200 One New Zealand employees moved into the company’s Auckland Support Office in the Wynyard Quarter.

Five years ago Hawaiki announced a submarine cable linking the South Island to the US.
Hawaiki Nui was a proposed 22,000km system linking South-East Asia, Australia and the US, with branches to Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill. Its original construction and 2025 service dates passed. In 2024, BW Digital and Telin announced a Hawaiki Nui 1: a 10,000km cable linking Australia, Indonesia and Singapore, with an expected 2027 service date.

Ten years ago Download Weekly covered moves by Spark and Vodafone to bypass UFB fibre.
Spark and Vodafone both pushed hard with fixed wireless broadband while Vodafone rebooted its hybrid fibre-coaxial network. In part the two telcos wanted to avoid paying for wholesale services from Chorus and other fibre companies but there was the added bonus that the alternatives are relatively unregulated.

The Download Weekly is a New Zealand telecommunications industry newsletter written by Bill Bennett. You are welcome to pass it on to your friends and colleagues. While the newsletter is free, reader support helps enormously. If you are reading this for work, donations are tax-free. A banner at the top of the page will take you to the support site.

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Bill Bennett has covered New Zealand telecommunications for nearly 40 years and was named Tuanz Journalist of the Year 2025.