Chorus network data for April shows fibre essential to life in lockdown

New Zealand households that are connected to fibre consumed an average of 500GB in the month of April, according to new network statistics released by Chorus.

The amount is equivalent to 12 hours worth of Zoom video conferencing ever day of the month.

There are currently 713,000 connections on fibre, with each carrying 495GB on average, showing a surge of nearly 30 percent from February prior to when the country went into alert level four lockdown due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The average speed on the Chorus network also increased to more than 150Mbps as more people connected to higher speed fibre plans, like gigabit, Chorus says. Including copper connections, data consumption grew by 34 percent to 406GB.

"Recent events, and being under lockdown, have been truly unprecedented times and it's not surprising to see that reflected in the way Kiwis have been using their broadband," says JB Rousselot, Chorus chief executive officer.

"Now more than ever, having a robust broadband connection has proven critical as we've all had to adapt to working and learning from home," he says.

"High bandwidth apps, such as Zoom, have become so important not just for business meetings but for people to stay in contact with friends and family. Fibre is perfect for making use of these tools with its low latency and high download and upload speeds," says Rousselot.

 "Our fibre network offers Kiwis the fastest, most reliable and affordable broadband available. It isn't subject to data constraints either meaning everyone can do what they need to do online," he says.

 New Zealand moved into alert level 3 after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended the level 4 lockdown by five days, which came to an end 11.59pm on Monday 27 April. The government is will announce on Monday 11 May if New Zealand will move down to alert level 2, which will see more New Zealanders returning to work and schools open across the country.

As the country moved into alert level 3, Chorus recommenced non-essential fibre installations with stringent health and safety measures in place.

Chorus encourages people to visit www.chorus.co.nz and enter their address into the broadband checker to see if fibre is available to them.

"Fibre offers by far the best internet connectivity out there, so if it is available to you, we urge you to call your broadband provider and ask to upgrade," says Rousselot.