New Zealand Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 16 May 2022 Update History

Report Pages: 214

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Summary
Table Of Contents

New Zealand’s regulators approved tie up between 2degrees and Orcon Group

The principal growth areas in in New Zealand’s telecom market have been in mobile broadband and fibre. The UFB1 rollout was completed in November 2019 and the UFB2 rollout is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. Chorus noted that as of the beginning of 2022, 1Gb/s plans accounted for about 23% of all fibre connections, while 43% of business customers adopted a gigabit service.

New Zealand’s mobile market continues to undergo significant developments. There have been considerable gains made in LTE services, with effective competition between Spark, Vodafone NZ, and 2degrees. The widening coverage of LTE networks has been supported by the Rural Broadband Initiative rollout, which added a significant number of mobile sites to new or underserved areas. As the initiative is winding down, this has enabled the participating telcos to invest in NB-IoT and other platforms. Vodafone NZ expects to extend its NB-IoT footprint to cover at least 60% of the country by 2024.

The market is undergoing additional consolidation, with approval of the merger between 2degrees and Orcon Group having been granted by regulators in May 2022. This will create the country’s third-largest integrated telco, offering fixed and mobile services in competition with Spark and Vodafone NZ. The merger proposal came fast of the heels of Vocus Group and its local subsidiary Orcon having acquired 2degrees from Trilogy International in December 2021. This deal created a new company, Voyage Digital.

Key developments:

Google to lay the Topaz cable connecting Canada with Honolulu, Sydney, and Auckland;
Trustpower sells its retail business to Mercury NZ for NZ$441 million;
Trilogy International sells 2degrees;
New Zealand to be connected to Australia and Chile via the 14,810km Humboldt cable in early 2025;
Chorus begins closing down copper network as it transitions to an all-fibre network;
Government allocates 3.5GHz spectrum after Covid-19 crisis forces cancellation of a planned 5G auction;
Spark extends the reach of its 5G service; stops providing PSTN services;
2degrees’ network covering 98.5% of the population;
Report update includes ComCom and Statistics New Zealand data for 2020, operator data to March 2022, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Spark New Zealand, Chorus, Vodafone New Zealand, 2degrees, Orcon, Snap, CallPlus, CityLink, Vector, NOW, Airnet, WorldxChange Communications, Vocus, Skinny, Compass, MyRepublic, Skinny, Slingshot, Trustpower, Enable Networks, Northpower Fibre and UltraFast Fibre

Key statistics
Telecommunications market

Market analysis

Regulatory environment

Fixed-line developments

UBA, UCLL, LLU and UBS access market developments
Minor changes post Spark and Chorus demerger
Telecommunications Service Obligations (TSO)
Telecommunications Development Levy
Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS)
Telecommunications Dispute Resolution (TDR)
Local and Mobile Number Portability (LMNP)

Mobile network developments

Spectrum
Spectrum auctions
Management Rights Regime
Mobile Termination Access Services (MTAS)
Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs)
Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

Mobile market

Mobile statistics

Mobile voice
Mobile data
Mobile broadband

Mobile infrastructure

5G
4G (LTE)
Other infrastructure developments

Major mobile operators

Spark Mobile
Vodafone New Zealand
2degrees Mobile
Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)

Mobile content and applications

Mobile banking and payments
Internet of Things (IoT)
Mobile applications

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview

Market analysis
Wholesale pricing
Broadband statistics

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks

Vodafone NZ

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks

Wholesale fibre

Other fixed broadband services

Wi-Fi/ WiMAX
Satellite broadband

Digital economy

Market overview
E-commerce and M-commerce

Streaming Services

E-health
E-learning
E-government

Fixed network operators

Spark
Vocus

Telecommunications infrastructure

Overview of the national telecom network
UFB

UFB2/2+ program
New networks adding financial value to the economy

Wholesale fibre
Spark Joint Venture with Electra Group
Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI)
International infrastructure

Tasman Global Access (TGA)
Southern Cross Cable (SCCN) and Southern Cross NEXT
Hawaiki Cable
Topaz
Humboldt

Smart infrastructure

Connected cars
Smart electricity meters
Smart grids
Smart cities

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – New Zealand – 2022 (e)
Table 2 – Development of telecom sector revenue – 2012 – 2021
Table 3 – Development of telecom investment by sector (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2021
Table 4 – Change in the number of subscribers by sector (million) – 2012 – 2021
Table 5 – Annual cost of TDL – 2012 – 2021
Table 6 – Development of mobile market revenue – 2012 – 2021
Table 7 – Change in mobile voice traffic – 2012 – 2021
Table 8 – Mobile voice traffic use per connection – 2012 – 2021
Table 9 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 10 – Market share of mobile subscribers per operator – 2012 – 2021
Table 11 – Annual change in mobile subscribers per major operator – 2012 – 2020
Table 12 – Decline of SMS traffic – 2012 – 2021
Table 13 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 14 – Mobile data use per connection – 2012 – 2021
Table 15 – Development of Spark’s mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 16 – Development of Spark’s capex (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 17 – Growth in the number of Spark’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 18 – Development of Spark Mobile’s ARPU (NZ$ / month) – 2012 – 2021
Table 19 – Change in the proportion of Spark’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 20 – Change in the number of Vodafone’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Table 21 – Development of Vodafone New Zealand’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 22 – Development of Vodafone New Zealand’s revenue by type (NZ$ million) – 2020 – 2022
Table 23 – Change in Vodafone New Zealand’s cash investment – 2015 – 2022
Table 24 – Growth in the number of 2degrees’ mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 25 – Change in the proportion of 2degrees prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 26 – 2degrees key financial data (US$ million) – 2017 – 2021
Table 27 – Vocus mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Table 28 – Change in fixed-broadband penetration by access platform (OECD data) – 2012 – 2021
Table 29 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 30 – Decline in the number of dial-up internet subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Table 31 – Growth in average data consumption per month – 2012 – 2021
Table 32 – DSL, cable, and fibre broadband subscribers (thousand) – 2012 – 2021
Table 33 – Change in the market share of broadband connections by technology – 2012 – 2021
Table 34 – Change in fixed-line broadband market share by operator – 2015 – 2021
Table 35 – Change in the proportion of broadband subscriptions by data rate – 2012 – 2018
Table 36 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) (thousand) – 2012 – 2018
Table 37 – Change in the proportion of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) – 2012 – 2018
Table 38 – Change in the market share of internet subscribers by residential/business segment – 2012 – 2018
Table 39 – Change in the number of Vodafone NZ’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Table 40 – Change in the number of Vocus broadband subscribers – 2016 – 2021
Table 41 – Change in the number of Spark’s broadband subscribers by platform (thousand) – 2014 – 2021
Table 42 – Development of Spark’s broadband revenue – 2012 – 2022
Table 43 – Increase in the number of UFB fibre subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 44 – Development of Spark’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 45 – Annual change in Spark’s financial data – 2012 – 2022
Table 46 – Change in Spark’s revenue by sector (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 47 – Spark’s operating expenses by sector (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2022
Table 48 – Change in the number of Spark’s fixed lines by division (thousand) – 2012 – 2021
Table 49 – Annual change in Spark’s fixed lines by division – 2012 – 2021
Table 50 – Change in Vocus’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2016 – 2021
Table 51 – Change in the number of fixed-line accesses and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 52 – Fixed-line voice traffic use by type (billion minutes) – 2012 – 2021
Table 53 – Fixed-line retail revenue – 2012 – 2021
Table 54 – Change in the number of Chorus’s connections by type (million) – 2013 – 2021
Table 55 – Development of Chorus’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2013 – 2022
Table 56 – Historic - Internet users and penetration – 2001 – 2016
Table 57 – Historic - Telecom investment by sector (NZ$ million) – 2006 – 2011
Table 58 – Historic - Subscriptions to services by sector (million) – 2006 – 2011
Table 59 – Historic - Regulated UCLL and UBA pricing (NZ$ per month per line) – 2010 – 2012; 2014 – 2015
Table 60 – Historic - Sprint payments from TRS/TSO – 2005 – 2014
Table 61 – Historic - Spark and Vodafone network termination rates (Cents per minute) – 2011 – 2014
Table 62 – Historic - Mobile voice traffic – 2006 – 2011
Table 63 – Historic - Mobile voice traffic use per connection – 2006 – 2011
Table 64 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 2001 – 2011
Table 65 – Historic - Annual change in mobile subscribers per major operator – 2002 – 2009
Table 66 – Historic - Market share of mobile subscribers per operator – 1996 – 2011
Table 67 – Historic - Spark prepaid versus postpaid subscribers – 2005 – 2011
Table 68 – Historic - Vodafone prepaid versus postpaid subscribers – 2005 – 2016
Table 69 – Historic - Spark and Vodafone network termination rates – 2010 – 2014
Table 70 – Historic - Mobile market revenue – 2006 – 2011
Table 71 – Historic - Mobile broadband traffic – 2010 – 2014
Table 72 – Historic - Spark mobile subscribers – 2001 – 2009
Table 73 – Historic - Estimated New Zealand population shopping online – 2008 - 2015
Table 74 – Historic - Spark fixed lines in operation by division – 2008 – 2012
Table 75 – Historic - Spark capital expenditure – 1999 – 2011
Table 76 – Historic - Local access lines – 2002 – 2011
Table 77 – Historic - Local service calling revenue – 2002 – 2011
Table 78 – Historic - Spark’s mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2011
Table 79 – Historic - Fixed-line voice traffic use per connection – 2008 – 2016
Table 80 – Historic - Change in the number of UCLL lines – 2009 – 2018
Table 81 – Historic - Development of telecom sector revenue – 2009 – 2011
Table 82 – Historic - Development of SMS traffic – 2009 – 2011
Table 83 – Historic - Development of Spark’s mobile service revenue – 2009 – 2011
Table 84 – Historic - Development of Spark Mobile’s ARPU (NZ$ / month) – 2008 – 2011
Table 85 – Historic - Growth in the number of 2degrees’ mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2011
Table 86 – Historic - Change in the market share of internet subscribers by residential/business segment – 2009 – 2011
Table 87 – Historic - Development of Spark’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 88 – Historic - Fixed-line voice traffic use by type (billion minutes) – 2006 – 2011
Table 89 – Historic - Fixed-line retail revenue – 2006 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Development of telecom sector revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 2 – Development of telecom investment by sector – 2012 – 2021
Chart 3 – Change in the number of subscribers by sector – 2012 – 2021
Chart 4 - Spectrum holdings
Chart 5 – Development of mobile market revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 6 – Change in mobile voice traffic – 2012 – 2021
Chart 7 – Mobile voice traffic use per connection – 2012 – 2021
Chart 8 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 9 – Market share of mobile subscribers per operator – 2012 – 2021
Chart 10 – Decline of SMS traffic – 2012 – 2021
Chart 11 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 12 – Mobile data use per connection – 2012 – 2021
Chart 13 – Development of Spark’s mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 14 – Development of Spark’s capex – 2012 – 2022
Chart 15 – Growth in the number of Spark’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 16 – Development of Spark Mobile’s ARPU – 2012 – 2021
Chart 17 – Change in the proportion of Spark’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 18 – Development of Vodafone New Zealand’s financial data – 2012 – 2022
Chart 19 – Development of Vodafone New Zealand’s revenue by type (NZ$ million) – 2020 – 2022
Chart 20 – Change in Vodafone NZ’s cash investment – 2015 – 2022
Chart 21 – Growth in the number of 2degrees’ mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 22 – Change in the proportion of 2degrees prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 23 – 2degrees key financial data – 2017 – 2021
Chart 24 – Vocus mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Chart 25 – Change in fixed-broadband penetration by access platform (OECD data) – 2012 – 2021
Chart 26 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 27 – Decline in the number of dial-up internet subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Chart 28 – Growth in average data consumption per month – 2012 – 2021
Chart 29 – DSL, cable, and fibre broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 30 – Change in the market share of broadband connections by technology – 2012 – 2021
Chart 31 – Change in fixed-line broadband market share by operator – 2015 – 2021
Chart 32 – Change in the proportion of broadband subscriptions by data rate – 2012 – 2018
Chart 33 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) – 2012 – 2018
Chart 34 – Change in the proportion of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) – 2012 – 2018
Chart 35 – Change in the market share of internet subscribers by residential/business segment – 2012 – 2018
Chart 36 – Change in the number of Vodafone NZ’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Chart 37 – Change in the number of Vocus broadband subscribers – 2016 – 2021
Chart 38 – Change in the number of Spark’s broadband subscribers by platform – 2014 – 2021
Chart 39 – Development of Spark’s broadband revenue – 2012 – 2022
Chart 40 – Increase in the number of UFB fibre subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 41 – Development of Spark’s financial data – 2012 – 2022
Chart 42 – Change in Spark’s revenue by sector – 2012 – 2022
Chart 43 – Change in Vocus’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2016 – 2021
Chart 44 – Change in the number of fixed-line accesses and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 45 – Fixed-line voice traffic use by type – 2012 – 2021
Chart 46 – Fixed-line retail revenue – 2012 – 2021
Chart 47 – Change in the number of Chorus’s connections by type (million) – 2013 – 2021
Chart 48 – Development of Chorus’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2013 – 2022

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – UBA services background
Exhibit 2 – Regulatory timeline – scheduled UBA and other services launch by service variant
Exhibit 3 – Liable operators for the TDL levy (2021)
Exhibit 4 – Mobile plan pricing benchmarking
Exhibit 5 – Vodafone New Zealand spectrum licences
Exhibit 6 – Fixed broadband pricing benchmarking
Exhibit 7 – Brief history timeline of e-government strategies in New Zealand
Exhibit 8 – Previous government initiatives (historic) – Digital Strategy 2.0
Exhibit 9 – The 33 UFB regions by UFB LFC deployment by company

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New Zealand Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

New Zealand’s regulators approved tie up between 2degrees and Orcon Group

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Mobile market

Fixed-line broadband market

Digital economy

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Glossary of abbreviations

Related reports

Purchase this Report

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Research Methodology

Hot Topics

News & Views