Following our annual ISP satisfaction survey the Commerce Commission released its telecommunications market monitoring report. The findings are interesting and damning.

While we are now paying similar rates to Australia for broadband (speeds were not mentioned) the comparatively high costs of fixed phone lines – often bundled with broadband – may cause consumers to move to "naked" (unbundled) broadband and digital voice services.

However, heavy users are at a disadvantage. The commission said:

For larger data users New Zealand is one of the most expensive countries benchmarked for both types of broadband. For example, for the 60GB naked broadband basket, NewZealand’s price is 77% greater than the benchmark average.

And heavy users take the brunt of the costs for mobile data as well.

For mobile phone data New Zealand's pricing is below OECD average for small amounts of data (50MB per month) but well above OECD average for large amounts of data (500MB per month).

What's the point of a smartphone or tablet if you only use around 50MB per month? In fact, what's the point of having a mobile phone when you can only send text messages?

In the mobile services market, the report shows that New Zealand’s mobile pre-pay pricing is significantly higher than Australia except for when the predominant use is for text messaging, where the price is lower than Australia and the OECD average.

New Zealand mobile post-pay [on-contract] pricing is generally higher than the OECD average and significantly higher than Australia. Australia has had the benefit of a more competitive mobile market than New Zealand for many years. For higher users of mobile voice services, pricing is also significantly above the OECD average.

Emphasis mine.

The Australian market is bigger too. For example, the Commerce Commission says that the "key reason for [considerably higher fixed-line voice prices] is the high monthly line rental charged by Telecom, reflecting limited competition in the market and the TSO (Local Residential Telephone Service Telecommunications Service Obligation) requirement for unlimited local calling."

To add some awful perspective to this: a friend was looking for a flatmate recently for his San Francisco apartment. In the advertisement he mentioned his internet connection was 100Mbps with an unlimited data cap. I asked him how much he paid for it. He said, NZ$58/month. It's enough to make you sigh and shake your head.

The annual report from the commission is required under the Telecommunications Act 2001 and is "for the long‐term benefit of end‐users in New Zealand". With that in mind it seems that one benefit would be a drop in the prices of voice and data services. Or at the very least plans that accommodate the various types of users so that heavy users aren't being punished.While we’re at it, a removal of data caps would be nice too.

To make comparisons of telecommunications prices, check out our free website TelMe.org.nz.

Hadyn Green - Technical Writer

Comments

Post a comment

Be the first to comment!

Post a comment