Mobile internet use on the rise: Statistics NZ figures

Mobile internet use is surging in New Zealand, according to figures from Statistics New Zealand's 2011 ISP survey released today.

During the April-June period, more than 1.9 million New Zealanders either had a dedicated subscription via a mobile phone, or used a mobile phone at some time to access the internet.

Of those 1.9 million, ten percent had specific data subscriptions, purchased separately to voice, via their ISP. The vast majority accessed the mobile internet via standard mobile subscriptions.

"This reflects the developments in internet-accessible devices such as tablets, pocket wi-fi and smartphones", Statistics NZ ICT statistics manager Jean Watt says in a statement.

Other figures from the ISP survey include:

* Broadband subscriber numbers increased 14 percent, to 1.5 million, between June 2010 and June 2011;

* Mobile, cable and satellite broadband connections rose nearly 50 percent in the same period, outstripping growth in fixed-line connections;

* DSL remained the most popular broadband connection choice, but the proportion of subscribers on DSL continues to decline;

* Fibre-optic connections rose by 40 percent in the year to June 2011

* As of June 2011, almost 80 percent of broadband subscribers had a data cap of 5GB or more;

* The number of subscribers with an upload speed of 1.5Mbps or more increased by almost 75 percent since June 2010;

* The average rate of data consumption per subscriber in the months between June 2010 and June 2011 was 9GB.

The survey can be found at the Statistics NZ website.