New Zealand - Mobile & Broadband Overview and Analysis - 2008

Synopsis

The current mobile market is a duopoly of Vodafone New Zealand and Telecom Mobile. In the long term BuddeComm does not think it will be viable for more than two mobile infrastructure operators to survive in a nation as small as New Zealand, based on traditional voice and texting services. The local mobile market is now approaching saturation and we expect overall market subscriber growth to drop to just 2.9% in 2007/08. New Zealand is finally catching up with the rest of the world in terms of broadband penetration, with overall subscriber growth in excess of 30% in 2006/07. Depending on the developments in 2008, we believe that this gap can be closed. The FTA broadcasting networks are expected to see intense competition for viewers and advertising in 2008 and beyond, which will impact on their cost margins as they will be forced to put more money into programming and marketing. This report provides an overview of the mobile, fixed and wireless broadband, Internet, ISP and data markets, as well as digital media and broadcasting in New Zealand.