Almost half of all broadband connections in New Zealand had unlimited data plans at 30 June 2016, Statistics New Zealand said today. In 2016, there are 43 percent more unlimited data plans than in 2015, when only around one-third of connections were unlimited.

This is coupled with a large increase in the amount of data used by broadband connections compared with 2015. In total, residential and business connections used over 143,000 terabytes in the month of June 2016, a 70 percent increase from 2015.

“Residential broadband connections in New Zealand used an average of 88 gigabytes each during the month of June 2016,” business performance senior manager Jason Attewell said. “That’s equivalent to 85 hours of video or TV streaming. Kiwis are really making the most of their unlimited data plans, considering that half of the broadband connections in June 2016 had no data cap.”

This increase in data usage is likely to coincide with the increasing number of streaming services available, and the continuing popularity of these. Additionally, telecommunications services are 20 percent cheaper in June 2016 than in June 2011 (see Consumers Price Index: June 2016 quarter).

“It’s never been cheaper to have unlimited data plans, and there are so many options for how to use the data – watching movies, streaming music, creating and sharing content, and communicating with friends and family,” Mr Attewell said. “A few years ago only 5 percent of us had uncapped broadband connections, so it’s exciting to think where we could be in another few years.”

These figures come from the annual Internet Service Provider Survey, which is sent to all internet service providers in New Zealand.