The Commerce Commission's second report from its enhanced broadband monitoring programme shows that most New Zealanders are able to reliably stream high definition (HD) video, such as Netflix and YouTube, most of the time.
The Measuring Broadband New Zealand Autumn Report, from independent testing partner SamKnows, includes speed and performance comparisons across copper (ADSL and VDSL), fibre (Fibre 100 and Fibre Max) and fixed wireless technologies.
"Fibre plans perform the best, being able to deliver 4k video streaming from Netflix over 99% of the time," Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Stephen Gale said.
"We are pleased that all technologies are delivering a good video streaming experience – even ADSL, the slowest technology, is capable of delivering HD video around 75% of the time. However, for households with multiple people streaming, downloading files, or gaming at the same time, fibre plans will give the best results."
Future Measuring Broadband New Zealand reports will also break down these video streaming results to compare how providers are performing against each other.
The Commission is continuing to look for more volunteers on specific plans to enable it to publish more detailed information on a range of topics, including broadband performance in different regions in New Zealand and comparisons between providers.
"The aim of our Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme is that Kiwis use the information in our reports to choose the right technology and provider for what they want to do online," Dr Gale said.
A list of plans the Commission is seeking volunteers for are detailed in the report, which can be found here.
The next report is due out around September this year.
Background
The Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme is designed to provide consumers with independent information on broadband performance across different providers, plans, and technologies, to help them choose the best broadband for their household. Shining a light on actual broadband performance will also encourage providers to compete on performance and not just price.
Watch the volunteer recruitment video here. More details about the programme and how to become a volunteer can be found at www.comcom.govt.nz/broadbandvolunteer.
