Telecommunications in New Zealand

Telecommunications in New Zealand are fairly typical for an industrialised country.

Fixed-line broadband and telephone services were largely provided through copper-based networks, but fibre-based services now represent the majority of connections. Spark New Zealand, One NZ, and 2degrees provide most services, while a number of smaller mobile virtual network operators also exist.

History

File:Telegraph Office in Lyttelton.jpg

The historic telegraph office in Lyttelton from which the first telegraph transmission in New Zealand was made

The first telegraph opened in New Zealand between the port of Lyttelton and Christchurch on 16 June 1862.Template:Sfn The line was constructed along the Lyttelton - Christchurch railway line.Template:Sfn The Vogel Era from 1870 saw a major expansion of the telegraph network, including an inter-island cable.Template:Sfn Telegraph lines increased from Template:Convert in 1866 to Template:Convert in 1876.Template:Sfn The first overseas telegraph cable between Australia and New Zealand began operation on 21 February 1876.Template:Sfn

The Electric Telegraph Department formed to manage the growing telegraph network was merged with Post Office Department to form the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department in 1881.<ref name=Ara_2>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

Following early experiments with telephones on telegraph lines, the colonial government established a state monopoly in telephony with the Electric Telegraph Act 1875.Template:Sfn By 1900 there were 7,150 subscribers to telephone services.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Telephony subscriptions grew greatly over the next century, it was estimated by 1965 that 35% of New Zealanders had a telephone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

New Zealand's first payphones were installed in 1910, which was 21 years after the first ones in the United States. They were originally bright red.<ref name=":0"/>

By the 1980s there was major telephony traffic congestion on the New Zealand Post Office network.Template:Sfn In Auckland, the central exchange was overloaded and "verging on collapse"Template:Sfn elsewhere in New Zealand users often experienced network overloading and crashes.Template:Sfn Some areas still had manual telephone exchanges; Queenstown, for example, wasn't upgraded to automatic service until 1988.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The New Zealand Post Office was highly inefficient, being hamstrung as a government department and required to apply to the Treasury for capital investment.Template:Sfn As the Post Office was a monopoly, it had no incentive to improve customer service.Template:Sfn

The monopoly over telecommunications came to an end in 1987 when Telecom New Zealand was formed, initially as a state-owned enterprise and then privatised in 1990.<ref name="Wilson2010">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Competition began in the early 1990s, greatly reducing prices. The first competitor to market was Clear Communications, a consortium of North American and New Zealand businesses. Chorus, which was split from Telecom (now Spark) in 2011,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> still owns the majority of the telecommunications infrastructure, but competition from other providers has increased.<ref name="Wilson2010"/> A large-scale rollout of gigabit-capable fibre to the premises, branded as Ultra-Fast Broadband, began in 2009 with a target of being available to 87% of the population by 2022, which was achieved.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:As of, the United Nations International Telecommunication Union ranks New Zealand 13th in the development of information and communications infrastructure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Telephones

File:24 Dunedin Town Hall at the Octagon square, Dunedin, New Zealand.JPG

Telephone booths in Dunedin

• Country calling code: 64
  • The same code is also used to reach Scott Base in Antarctica and the United States base McMurdo Station nearby.

Mobile phone system

• Number of mobile connections: 5.8 million (2021)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Coverage available to approx 98% of the population.
  • Operators:
    • 2degrees (operating UMTS and LTE)
      • Virtual network operators: Warehouse Mobile (owned by The Warehouse Group),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nova Energy,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Orcon (owned by 2degrees),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Slingshot (owned by 2degrees), and Electric Kiwi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
    • One NZ (operating GSM, UMTS, HSDPA and LTE)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
      • Virtual network operators: Flexiroam,<ref name="autogenerated1">Template:Cite web</ref> Kogan Mobile NZ,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Mighty Mobile (owned by Mighty Ape),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Rocket Mobile (formerly MyRepublic).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
    • Spark New Zealand (operating UMTS, HSDPA and LTE)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
      • Virtual network operators: Skinny (owned by Spark NZ), Digital Island,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Compass.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Fixed-line telephone system

• Number of fixed line connections: 1.92 million (2000)
• Individual lines available to 99% of residences.
• VoIP Cloud Based Voice services are now mainstream.
• Traditional Copper line Operators:
  • Chorus Limited: A large numbers of ISPs (referred to as "retail service providers") retail Chorus' connections to personal and business customers. As a wholesaler, Chorus does not retail internet connections to end users.

Cable and microwave links

• Domestic:
  • Optical fibre and microwave links between cities
  • Submarine optical fibre cables between the North Island and the South Island
• International:
  • Submarine cables:
    • Hawaiki Cable (launched July 2018)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
    • Southern Cross Cable (to Australia and Hawaii)
    • TASMAN 2 (to Australia)
    • Tasman Global Access (to Australia, completed March 2017)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
    • Moana Cable (proposed)<ref name=Ryan20151209>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • Satellite earth stations: 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)

Payphones

Template:As of, there are approximately 2000 payphones in New Zealand, which few people use anymore due to the abundance of cell phones.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Some of them offer WiFi with a reception radius of 50 metres. Most calls made on these phones are 0800 numbers.<ref name=":0" /> Telecom previously made phone cards, which had various designs such as New Zealand plants and birds. They were a fad for collectors; some cards would sell for up to $14,000.<ref name=":1" /> Telecom phased these out completely in 1999,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which caused prices of phone cards price to drop significantly. Today, mint condition cards sell for $1.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Radio

• Radio broadcast stations: AM 124, FM 290, shortwave 4 (1998), 4 on Freeview digital satellite.
  • See also: List of radio stations in New Zealand
• Radios: 3.75 million (1997)

Television

• Television broadcast stations: 41 (plus 52 medium-power repeaters and over 650 low-power repeaters) (1997)
  • These transmit 4 nationwide free-to-air networks and a few regional or local single transmitter stations. Analogue was phased out between September 2012 and December 2013
  • Digital Satellite pay TV is also available and carries most terrestrial networks.
  • Freeview digital free satellite with a dozen SD channels, with SD feeds of the terrestrial HD freeview channels.
  • Freeview, free-to-air digital terrestrial HD and SD content.
  • See also: List of New Zealand television channels
• Televisions: 1.926 million (1997)

Internet

• Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 36 (2000)
• Internet users: 4.55 million (2021)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Fixed internet connections: 1.24 million (2013)
• Country code (Top level domain): .nz

Telecommunications Development Levy

Template:Main The government charges a $50 million Telecommunications Development Levy annually to fund improvements to communications infrastructure such as the Rural Broadband Initiative. It is payable by telecommunications firms with an operating revenue of over $10 million, in proportion to their qualified revenue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Economy of New Zealand

Further reading

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:CIA World Factbook