Chorus fibre data surge marks end of 2024
Chorus reports a 5 percent increase in data consumed per customer on its fibre network during the final three months of last year compared with the previous quarter.
The company’s most recent connections update says that the average monthly data per customer was 644GB for the quarter ending in December 2024. That’s up 7.5 percent on the 599GB monthly average in the December 2023 quarter.
This compares with a decade ago when the average monthly data consumed per household was under 50 GB. Although that was before Netflix opened its New Zealand digital streaming service in March 2015.
Terabyte data users climbing
The network company reports 17.5 percent of its fibre customers got through more than a terabyte of data during the last quarter of 2024. That’s up from 15 percent in the September quarter.
Customers on Chorus’ copper network used an average of 302GB.
Other highlights of the most recent connections update show the number of fibre connections is creeping up. The company signed up 6000 new connections during the quarter. This is the same as the number of new premises passed by the network during the quarter.
The increase during the quarter takes the total number of fibre connections on the Chorus network to 1,098,000. The fibre connection increase was offset by a drop of 4,000 copper connections in the Chorus fibre area and a total of 16,000 fewer copper connections countrywide.
Flat fibre uptake increase
Growth in fibre uptake rates has almost stalled, with a 0.1 percent increase during the quarter to 71.7 percent. In November, Chorus CEO Mark Aue said the company’s goal is to reach 80 percent uptake by 2030.
A sign of the time is that connections to Chorus’ lower-priced 50 Mbps Home Fibre Starter service grew by 20 percent to 68,000 during the quarter.
Copper withdrawal on track
Chorus says it is on track to fully retire the copper network within the company’s fibre footprint by the end of next year (2026). The shutdowns to date mean that more than 1,500 copper
broadband cabinets no longer have any customers.
Wholesale prices increased on January 1 2025. The price for a voice line increased $1.48. Service providers will pay an extra $3 for a Home Starter connection while the wholesale cost of an 8Gbps Hyperfibre line will rise $7.70.
Telcowatch shows mobile market share is almost static
Datamine’s Telcowatch market share report for the fourth quarter of 2024 shows One New Zealand is the leading mobile brand with a 36 percent market share.
Spark is in second place with a 33 percent share or a third of the total market. Its position is boosted by the company’s low price Skinny brand which commands a 6 percent market share.
Combined, the two make 39 percent. Which means Spark is the biggest service provider, while One NZ is the leading brand.
2degrees makes up 25 percent of the market.
Telcowatch’s figures are barely changed from a year earlier. Back then 2degrees held the same 25 percent share it does today. Skinny dropped one point over the year from 7 percent to 6 percent while One NZ put on an extra point from last year’s 35 percent.
PC shipments up in 2024, but no agreement on how much
Research company Gartner says worldwide PC shipments increased 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 which brings the total growth for the 2024 calendar year up to 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile rival research outfit Canalys estimates the PC market grew 3.8 percent during 2024. It says a total of 255 million units shipped in the year. Gartner estimates the total at 242 million.
Analysts from IDC research put the growth figure for 2024 at 1 percent, and the total number of units shipped at 263 million.
All three agree Lenovo is the leading brand accounting for around a quarter of units shipped. The three also agree that HP is in second place with around 20 percent of the total. In each case the next three brands are Dell, Apple and Asus.
In other news...
Gartner Forecasts Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 9.8% in 2025
Worldwide IT spending is expected to total US$5.61 trillion in 2025, an increase of 9.8 percent from 2024.
New Zealand shows a distinct lack of AI vibrancy
At Memia, Ben Reid publishes graphs showing that New Zealand is bottom of the pack when it comes to “AI Vibrancy”, it is not clear what that term is supposed to mean. He is rightly sceptical of the survey. One measure where we are “behind” is in the lack of AI social media posts. Nevertheless, it should be a wake up call for policy makers working in this area.
Netflix is raising prices again
For now the price increases apply in the US, Canada, Portugal and Argentina, but you can assume they will come to New Zealand before long.
The price for the top tier on offer in the US is now US$25 which, given the usual currency and tax adjustments, would be close to NZ$50 here. That’s a huge increase over the last decade that the company has officially sold services here. More so when you consider there is less fresh material today than in recent years.
Samsung Galaxy S25 is so smart it wears Crocs, allegedly resists quantum decryption
The Register's Simon Sharwood gets an early look at the new Samsung phones that were launched on Thursday morning New Zealand time. He writes:
The Register was able to handle all three of the new models and can report they're all as pleasingly light and pretty as any premium handset. The S25 Ultra is a couple of mm smaller in all dimensions than my current S23 Ultra, and rather lighter. The change to a thin silvery metal bezel (titanium on the Ultra) creates the impression of a very compact unit with a display dominating the chassis.
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