KEY POINTS:
New Zealand needs to move faster to improve broadband services, Communications Minister David Cunliffe said yesterday after releasing a report that again highlights the country's poor international ranking.
The Ministry of Economic Development report comparing New Zealand's telecommunications performance with other OECD countries uses figures from the organisation that show uptake of broadband in June last year was an unchanged 22nd place out of 30 countries.
"While New Zealand's performance - especially with broadband internet uptake - has improved in absolute terms, we are in a competitive international race and our relative performance has not improved," Cunliffe said.
A Statistics New Zealand survey containing more recent data showed broadband subscribers rose 28.6 per cent in the six months to the end of September last year. This suggested New Zealand's OECD ranking had improved from 22 to 19.
However, the change was based on a comparison between New Zealand's figures in September and figures from the other OECD countries in June.
Statistics New Zealand admitted at the time the ranking change may not have been accurate.
The latest OECD league tables are due to be released next month.
The figures used in the ministry report show 11.7 out of every 100 New Zealanders has a broadband subscription. In December 2004, less than five out of every 100 Kiwis had a broadband subscription, but other countries have improved uptake as well, leaving our ranking unchanged.
New Zealand's low OECD rating was one of the reasons the Government passed the Telecommunications Act in December last year.
'This shows clearly why substantial reform of our telecommunication policy was necessary," Cunliffe said.
The report says New Zealand's broadband market is focused on slower services and advanced packages for residential and small business users are not generally available.
Cunliffe said the study showed some services on which New Zealand compared favourably with OECD countries. "But in general, there is a significant gap between New Zealand's pricing performance and that of countries in the top rankings of the OECD."
