KEY POINTS:
More than a million New Zealand households are now online, according to latest official figures.
Sending and receiving email remains the most common reason for using the internet, but online shopping is now a key area, with more than 900,000 people using the internet to make a purchase during 2006.
The million figure equates to almost two-thirds of all households nationwide, with half of those with an internet connection using broadband.
In total, 33 per cent of households now have broadband, which still leaves us significantly behind the US where 42 per cent have high-speed access at home.
Only Auckland is in line with the American figure, though Wellington and Canterbury both score above the New Zealand average. Manawatu/Wanganui trails with just 22.7 per cent of households using broadband.
The figures released by Statistics New Zealand today are the first of their kind but the survey which produced them will now be repeated every two years. The 2001 Census suggested that just 37 per cent of households were online at that time.
The accompanying report - Household Use of Information and Communication Technology - said the main reason people did not have broadband was cost. However, in rural areas the lack of availability was also a major factor.
The main uses of the internet were:
* Sending and receiving email
* General web browsing
* Getting information on goods and services
* Internet banking
The survey also confirmed high mobile phone use among young people.
Almost 2.6 million people of all ages had a mobile phone for personal use and 90.6 per cent of people aged 15 to 24 had one.
The older generation were found to be happy to stick with landlines however, with only 33.9 per cent of people aged over 75 owning a mobile.
- NZHERALD STAFF, NZPA
