New Zealand Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Last updated: 21 Jan 2025 Update History

Report Status: Current

Report Pages: 275

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

Contact BuddeComm

Purchase this Report

Summary
Table Of Contents

New Zealand sees rapid take-up of satellite broadband

Following the completion of the UFB rollout program at the end of 2022, investment in fibre infrastructure has slowed. The fibre uptake rate in urban areas is relatively high, and while most subscribers re opt for the Fibre 300 package, though the number of Fibre Max connections is growing quickly.

New Zealand’s mobile market continues to undergo significant developments, particularly in the expansion of 5G networks which itself has been helped by the allocation of spectrum in the 3.5GHz range. There is effective competition between Spark, One NZ, and 2degrees. Although 2degrees only has about 21% of the market, it manages mobile infrastructure on a par with the two major competitors. Having merged with Vocus, 2degrees also picked up the fixed broadband subscriber base of MyRepublic. All three MNOs are expecting to close their 3G networks by the end of 2025 and repurpose spectrum for 5G.

Key developments:

One NZ acquires Dense Air New Zealand including the latter’s spectrum licence for the use of 2x35MHz of 2600MHz spectrum.
2degrees launches a Wi-Fi 7 router to support HyperFibre connections.
New Zealanders take to satellite broadband connectivity.
One NZ puts back 3G network shut down to March 2025.
Report update includes Statistics New Zealand data for 2023, ComCom’s June 2023 market report, Crown Infrastructure Partners’ data to June 2024, NZ Telecommunications Forum’s 2023 report, operator data to June 2024, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Spark New Zealand, Chorus, One New Zealand (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
Regional Asia market comparison

Market characteristics
Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents
TMI vs GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

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)
3G
Other infrastructure developments
Tower infrastructure

Major mobile operators

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

Mobile content and applications

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

Fixed-line broadband market

Introduction and statistical overview

Wholesale pricing
Broadband statistics

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks

One NZ

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

Wholesale fibre

Other fixed broadband services

Wi-Fi/ WiMAX
Fixed-wireless
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

UFB data rates
UFB2/2+ program

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

Data centres

Appendix – Historic data
Glossary of abbreviations
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities – New Zealand – 2025 (e)
Table 2 – Development of telecom sector retail revenue by type (NZ$ billion) – 2012 – 2023
Table 3 – Development of telecom investment by sector (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2023
Table 4 – Change in the number of subscribers by sector (million) – 2012 – 2023
Table 5 – Annual cost of TDL – 2012 – 2024
Table 6 – Proportion of prepaid mobile subscribers by data plan – 2019– 2023
Table 7 – Proportion of contract mobile subscribers by data plan – 2019– 2023
Table 8 – Change in the proportion of prepaid and contract mobile subscribers – 2013– 2023
Table 9 – Development of mobile market revenue – 2012 – 2023
Table 10 – Change in mobile voice traffic – 2012 – 2023
Table 11 – Mobile voice traffic use per connection – 2012 – 2021
Table 12 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 13 – Market share of mobile subscribers per operator – 2012 – 2023
Table 14 – Change in average mobile data usage by prepaid/contract subscribers (GB/ subscriber/month) – 2012 – 2023
Table 15 – Decline of SMS traffic – 2012 – 2023
Table 16 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 17 – Increase in the number of fixed wireless broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Table 18 – Development of Spark’s mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2024
Table 19 – Development of Spark’s capex (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2024
Table 20 – Growth in the number of Spark’s active mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2024
Table 21 – Development of Spark Mobile’s ARPU (NZ$ / month) – 2012 – 2024
Table 22 – Change in the number of Spark’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2011 – 2024
Table 23 – Change in the proportion of Spark’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2024
Table 24 – Change in the number of One NZ’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2024
Table 25 – Development of One NZ’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2025
Table 26 – Development of One NZ’s revenue by type (NZ$ million) – 2020 – 2023
Table 27 – Change in One NZ’s cash investment – 2015 – 2024
Table 28 – Growth in the number of 2degrees’ mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 29 – Change in the proportion of 2degrees prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Table 30 – 2degrees key financial data (US$ million) – 2017 – 2022
Table 31 – Change in the number of MVNO subscribers – 2014 – 2023
Table 32 – Change in the number of Vocus’s mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Table 33 – Change in MVNO revenue – 2013 – 2023
Table 34 – Change in fixed-broadband penetration by access platform (OECD data) – 2012 – 2023
Table 35 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Table 36 – Decline in the number of dial-up internet subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Table 37 – Growth in average data consumption per month – 2012 – 2023
Table 38 – DSL, cable, and fibre broadband subscribers (thousand) – 2012 – 2023
Table 39 – Change in the market share of broadband connections by technology – 2012 – 2023
Table 40 – Change in fixed-line broadband market share by operator – 2015 – 2023
Table 41 – Change in the proportion of broadband subscriptions by data rate – 2012 – 2018
Table 42 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) (thousand) – 2012 – 2018
Table 43 – Change in the proportion of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) – 2012 – 2018
Table 44 – Change in the market share of internet subscribers by residential/business segment – 2012 – 2018
Table 45 – Change in the number of One NZ’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Table 46 – Decline in the number of DSL and VDSL connections – 2020 – 2024
Table 47 – Change in the number of Vocus’s broadband subscribers – 2016 – 2021
Table 48 – Change in the number of Spark’s broadband subscribers by platform (thousand) – 2014 – 2024
Table 49 – Development of Spark’s broadband revenue – 2012 – 2024
Table 50 – Increase in the number of UFB fibre subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Table 51 – Development of Spark’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2024
Table 52 – Annual change in Spark’s reported financial data – 2012 – 2024
Table 53 – Change in Spark’s revenue by sector (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2024
Table 54 – Spark’s operating expenses by sector (NZ$ million) – 2012 – 2024
Table 55 – Change in the number of Spark’s fixed lines by division (thousand) – 2012 – 2021
Table 56 – Annual change in Spark’s fixed lines by division – 2012 – 2021
Table 57 – Change in the number of Spark’s voice connections by customer segment (thousand) – 2019 – 2024
Table 58 – Change in the number of Spark’s voice connections by type (thousand) – 2018 – 2024
Table 59 – Change in Vocus’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2016 – 2021
Table 60 – Change in the number of fixed-line accesses and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Table 61 – Fixed-line voice traffic use by type (billion minutes) – 2012 – 2023
Table 62 – Fixed-line retail revenue – 2012 – 2023
Table 63 – Proportion of addresses taking up a UFB service – 2013 – 2023
Table 64 – Chorus’s fibre of addresses and addresses passed – 2022 – 2024
Table 65 – Proportion of UFB connections by data rate – 2019 – 2023
Table 66 – Change in the number of Chorus’s connections by type (million) – 2013 – 2024
Table 67 – Development of Chorus’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2013 – 2024
Table 68 –Chorus’s revenue by type (NZ$ million) – 2022 – 2024
Table 69 – Change in Chorus’s capex – 2015 – 2024
Table 70 – Historic - Internet users and penetration – 2001 – 2016
Table 71 – Historic - Telecom investment by sector (NZ$ million) – 2006 – 2011
Table 72 – Historic - Subscriptions to services by sector (million) – 2006 – 2011
Table 73 – Historic - Regulated UCLL and UBA pricing (NZ$ per month per line) – 2010 – 2012; 2014 – 2015
Table 74 – Historic - Sprint payments from TRS/TSO – 2005 – 2014
Table 75 – Historic - Spark and One network termination rates (Cents per minute) – 2011 – 2014
Table 76 – Historic - Mobile voice traffic – 2006 – 2011
Table 77 – Historic - Mobile voice traffic use per connection – 2006 – 2011
Table 78 – Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration – 2001 – 2011
Table 79 – Historic - Annual change in mobile subscribers per major operator – 2002 – 2009
Table 80 – Historic - Market share of mobile subscribers per operator – 1996 – 2011
Table 81 – Historic - Spark prepaid versus postpaid subscribers – 2005 – 2011
Table 82 – Historic - One prepaid versus postpaid subscribers – 2005 – 2016
Table 83 – Historic - Spark and One network termination rates – 2010 – 2014
Table 84 – Historic - Mobile market revenue – 2006 – 2011
Table 85 – Historic - Mobile broadband traffic – 2010 – 2014
Table 86 – Historic - Spark mobile subscribers – 2001 – 2009
Table 87 – Historic - Estimated New Zealand population shopping online – 2008 - 2015
Table 88 – Historic - Spark fixed lines in operation by division – 2008 – 2012
Table 89 – Historic - Spark capital expenditure – 1999 – 2011
Table 90 – Historic - Local access lines – 2002 – 2011
Table 91 – Historic - Local service calling revenue – 2002 – 2011
Table 92 – Historic - Spark’s mobile subscribers – 2005 – 2011
Table 93 – Historic - Fixed-line voice traffic use per connection – 2008 – 2016
Table 94 – Historic - Change in the number of UCLL lines – 2009 – 2018
Table 95 – Historic - Development of telecom sector revenue – 2009 – 2011
Table 96 – Historic - Development of SMS traffic – 2009 – 2011
Table 97 – Historic - Development of Spark’s mobile service revenue – 2009 – 2011
Table 98 – Historic - Development of Spark Mobile’s ARPU (NZ$ / month) – 2008 – 2011
Table 99 – Historic - Growth in the number of 2degrees’ mobile subscribers – 2009 – 2011
Table 100 – Historic - Change in the market share of internet subscribers by residential/business segment – 2009 – 2011
Table 101 – Historic - Development of Spark’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2009 – 2011
Table 102 – Historic - Fixed-line voice traffic use by type (billion minutes) – 2006 – 2011
Table 103 – Historic - Fixed-line retail revenue – 2006 – 2011

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders
Chart 2 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers
Chart 3 – Asia Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents
Chart 4 – Asia – Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 – Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Northern Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Central Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – South East Asia – Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Northern Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Central Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 11 – South East Asia – Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 12 – Development of telecom sector revenue – 2012 – 2023
Chart 13 – Development of telecom investment by sector – 2012 – 2023
Chart 14 – Change in the number of subscribers by sector – 2012 – 2023
Chart 15 – Proportion of prepaid mobile subscribers by data plan – 2019– 2023
Chart 16 – Proportion of contract mobile subscribers by data plan – 2019– 2023
Chart 17 – Change in the proportion of prepaid and contract mobile subscribers – 2013– 2023
Chart 18 – Development of mobile market revenue – 2012 – 2023
Chart 19 – Change in mobile voice traffic – 2012 – 2023
Chart 20 – Mobile voice traffic use per connection – 2012 – 2021
Chart 21 – Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 22 – Market share of mobile subscribers per operator – 2012 – 2023
Chart 23 – Change in average mobile data usage by prepaid/contract subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Chart 24 – Decline of SMS traffic – 2012 – 2023
Chart 25 – Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 26 – Increase in the number of fixed wireless broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Chart 27 – Development of Spark’s mobile service revenue – 2012 – 2024
Chart 28 – Development of Spark’s capex – 2012 – 2024
Chart 29 – Growth in the number of Spark’s mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2024
Chart 30 – Development of Spark Mobile’s ARPU – 2012 – 2024
Chart 31 – Change in the number of Spark’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2011 – 2024
Chart 32 – Change in the proportion of Spark’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2024
Chart 33 – Development of One NZ’s financial data – 2012 – 2025
Chart 34 – Development of One NZ’s revenue by type (NZ$ million) – 2020 – 2023
Chart 35 – Change in One NZ’s cash investment – 2015 – 2024
Chart 36 – Growth in the number of 2degrees’ mobile subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 37 – Change in the proportion of 2degrees prepaid and postpaid subscribers – 2012 – 2021
Chart 38 – 2degrees key financial data – 2017 – 2022
Chart 39 – Change in the number of Vocus’s mobile subscribers – 2017 – 2021
Chart 40 – Change in MVNO revenue – 2013 – 2023
Chart 41 – Change in fixed-broadband penetration by access platform (OECD data) – 2012 – 2023
Chart 42 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband subscribers and penetration – 2012 – 2027
Chart 43 – Decline in the number of dial-up internet subscribers – 2012 – 2018
Chart 44 – Growth in average data consumption per month – 2012 – 2023
Chart 45 – DSL, cable, and fibre broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Chart 46 – Change in the market share of broadband connections by technology – 2012 – 2023
Chart 47 – Change in fixed-line broadband market share by operator – 2015 – 2023
Chart 48 – Change in the proportion of broadband subscriptions by data rate – 2012 – 2018
Chart 49 – Change in the number of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) – 2012 – 2018
Chart 50 – Change in the proportion of fixed-broadband connections by data cap (per month) – 2012 – 2018
Chart 51 – Change in the market share of internet subscribers by residential/business segment – 2012 – 2018
Chart 52 – Change in the number of One NZ’s fixed broadband subscribers – 2012 – 2019
Chart 53 – Decline in the number of DSL and VDSL connections – 2020 – 2024
Chart 54 – Change in the number of Vocus’s broadband subscribers – 2016 – 2021
Chart 55 – Change in the number of Spark’s broadband subscribers by platform – 2014 – 2024
Chart 56 – Development of Spark’s broadband revenue – 2012 – 2024
Chart 57 – Increase in the number of UFB fibre subscribers – 2012 – 2023
Chart 58 – Development of Spark’s financial data – 2012 – 2024
Chart 59 – Change in Spark’s revenue by sector – 2012 – 2024
Chart 60 – Change in the number of Spark’s voice connections by customer segment – 2019 – 2024
Chart 61 – Change in the number of Spark’s voice connections by customer segment – 2018 – 2024
Chart 62 – Change in Vocus’s financial data – 2016 – 2021
Chart 63 – Change in the number of fixed-line accesses and teledensity – 2012 – 2027
Chart 64 – Fixed-line voice traffic use by type – 2012 – 2023
Chart 65 – Fixed-line retail revenue – 2012 – 2023
Chart 66 – Proportion of addresses taking up a UFB service – 2013 – 2023
Chart 67 – Proportion of UFB connections by data rate – 2019 – 2023
Chart 68 – Change in the number of Chorus’s connections by type (million) – 2013 – 2024
Chart 69 – Development of Chorus’s financial data (NZ$ million) – 2013 – 2024
Chart 70 – Change in Chorus’s capex – 2015 – 2024

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 – Asia – Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 – Asia – Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 – Asia – Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 – UBA services background
Exhibit 7 – Regulatory timeline – scheduled UBA and other services launch by service variant
Exhibit 8 – Liable operators for the TDL levy (2024)
Exhibit 9 – One NZ’s spectrum licences
Exhibit 10 – Brief history timeline of e-government strategies in New Zealand
Exhibit 11 – Previous government initiatives (historic) – Digital Strategy 2.0
Exhibit 12 – The 33 UFB regions by UFB LFC deployment by company

Related Reports

Purchase this Report

Contact BuddeComm

Share this Report

TMT Intelligence

A platform to scale your intelligence tasks

Monitor critical insights with our AI-powered Market Intelligence Platform gathering and analyzing intelligence in real time. With AI trained to spot emerging trends and detect new strategic opportunities, our clients use TMT Intelligence to accelerate their growth.

If you want to know more about it, please see:

TMT Intelligence Platform

Research Methodology

BuddeComm's strategic business reports contain a combination of both primary and secondary research statistics, analyses written by our senior analysts supported by a network of experts, industry contacts and researchers from around the world as well as our own scenario forecasts.

For more details, please see:

Research Methodology

More than 4,000 customers from 140 countries utilise BuddeComm Research

Are you interested in BuddeComm's Custom Research Service?

Hot Topics

News & Views

Have the latest telecommunications industry news delivered to your inbox by subscribing to BuddeComm's weekly newsletter.

Unsubscribe

New Zealand Telecoms Market Report

Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses

Purchase this Report

New Zealand sees rapid take-up of satellite broadband

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional Asia market comparison

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