Kiwis have 'world-class' broadband - TCF
The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF) is welcoming the Measuring Broadband New Zealand Spring Report from the Commerce Commission released week, which it says confirms that New Zealand telecommunications consumers continue to receive good performing broadband services.
The report also highlights that the broadband networks continued to perform well during the COVID-19 response period.
The Commerce Commission's previous report, Winter Report August 2020, indicated a varied distribution of speeds across the Fibre Max plans throughout New Zealand. Following these results, the industry and the Commerce Commission's independent test partner SamKnows, worked together to examine the results, investigate why there was lower-than-expected Fibre Max reported performance and resolve any issues identified.
The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum says the outcome of this investigation successfully identified changes that could be made to improve the performance of the Fibre Max service and ultimately deliver better broadband performance to those consumers.
The SamKnows Fibre Max Investigation Report has been published alongside the Commerce Commissions Spring MBNZ Report and details the specific methodology and testing carried out, and the solutions agreed.
New Zealand Telecommunications Forum chief executive Geoff Thorn says the willingness of the industry to come together to identify the issues and find solutions demonstrates what can be achieved when the industry and the Commerce Commission work together.
"The final outcome of the investigation is now indicating results much closer to what we would expect and confirms that Kiwis have access to world-class broadband," Thorn says.
"We are confident these results will be reflected in the Commerce Commission's next report Autumn MBNZ report 2021," he adds.
"If we look at data internationally, we know our country is faring well, with New Zealand broadband speeds continuously improving and our fixed line broadband speeds above the OECD average."
In another recent international study, New Zealand's broadband speed has been ranked 23rd fastest in the world (out of 222), leading the way in Oceania.
"Overall, we see this as a positive outcome and proof that a collaborative process works best, benefiting consumers and the industry alike," Thorn says.
"The result of the process confirms that New Zealanders are well served by the telecommunications industry."
The NZ Telecommunications Forum (TCF) was established in 2002. It helps develop key industry standards and codes of practice that underpin the country's digital economy.
"Our objective is to actively foster cooperation among the telecommunications industry's participants, to enable the efficient provision of regulated and non-regulated telecommunications services," it says.
TCF Members include: 2degrees, AWACS, Chorus, Enable Networks, Kordia, Northpower Fibre, NOW, Spark, Symbio Networks, Trustpower, Ultrafast Fibre, Unison Fibre, Vector Communications, Vocus Communications and Vodafone.
