Latest broadband performance report confirms similar speeds between North and South Islands on Fibre Max plans

The latest report from the Commerce Commission’s Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme has been released, confirming similar speeds for Fibre Max plans across the country, with only slightly slower speeds for consumers in the South Island.

“We’ve enhanced the programme by adding a new test server in Christchurch that enables us to measure and report on performance in the South Island independently,” said Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson.

“The Christchurch server has confirmed that any differences in performance in the South Island are the result of many providers routing their traffic via the North Island. However, the difference in performance for high speed fibre plans is minor, and would likely not be noticeable for most South Islanders.”

Mr Gilbertson said the Commission is continuing to work with independent testing partner SamKnows and industry stakeholders to understand and monitor regional variations for other broadband services.

“Overall, the latest report shows that all download, upload and latency results are in line with previous reports, which is good news for consumers.”

The Winter report, covering the period 1 to 31 May 2021, also shows how different types of broadband perform when used for popular online gaming applications, including Apex Legends, FIFA, Fortnite and League of Legends.

“Fibre plans have the lowest latency on average. Users on ADSL, VDSL and Fixed Wireless plans are more likely to experience higher latency and lag using online gaming applications,” said Mr Gilbertson. Future reports will include updated gaming tests covering more games and international servers.

Mr Gilbertson said that the Commission is always looking for more volunteers to install a SamKnows Whitebox in their homes to enable the programme to compare the performance of a wider range of broadband services and broadband providers. The Whitebox does not record any personal information or browsing history or interfere with internet services. It gives volunteers access to their own personal broadband performance information in real time through a personalised online performance dashboard.

More information about Measuring Broadband NZ, including registering to become a volunteer, can be found on the MBNZ website. The Commission’s volunteer recruitment video can be watched here.

The Winter report and an online dashboard to explore the results in more detail are available on the Commission’s website.

Background
The Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme is delivered by independent testing partner SamKnows. It provides consumers with independent information on broadband performance across different providers, plans, and technologies to help them choose the best broadband plan for their homes. Shining a light on actual broadband performance also encourages providers to compete on performance and not just price.

Fibre Max products are advertised under different names by different providers. These products generally promise download speeds of around 700-950 Mbps.

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