Over a third of Kiwis on ultra-fast broadband

Communications Minister Simon Bridges said the statistics on the demand for ultra-fast broadband are encouraging. Photo/Mark Mitchell

More than a third of New Zealanders with access to Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) are now connected, according to the latest figures from the March 2017 Quarterly Broadband Update.

The data released today shows the number of households, businesses, schools and hospitals connected has increased 12 per cent in the past three months to 368,778. Uptake in UFB is now at 33.3 per cent.

Communications Minister Simon Bridges, commenting on the results, said: "It's encouraging to see that strong demand for UFB is continuing, as connectivity continues to improve across New Zealand."

The first phase of the UFB rollout is nearing completion with 73.8 per cent of the build in the allocated areas completed.

The UFB initiative said in the release they will have UFB fibre to premises available to more than 84 per cent of New Zealanders by the end of 2024.

UFB fibre can reach peak speeds of more than 100 megabits per second.

The number of users able to connect to UFB increased by 41,441 this quarter, bringing the total to date at 1,103,874.

The price gap between fibre and copper (ADSL and VDSL) is also closing with ultra fast fibre plans typically only costing between $10-$20 more than the much slower copper plans.