More than half of businesses used fibre-optic broadband connections in 2018, Stats NZ said today.
This result is from the annual business operations survey, which reports on businesses with six or more employees.
Fibre-optic connection allows extremely fast broadband speeds and is much faster than traditional copper-wired connection. “We are seeing more and more businesses taking up fast broadband,” business performance manager Geraldine Duoba said. “Fibre usage has more than doubled to 52 percent, compared with four years ago. Access to faster broadband is seen as an important factor in enabling increased productivity and promoting economic growth.”
The financial and insurance services industry had the highest proportion of businesses already using fibre (82 percent). This was followed by the professional, scientific, and technical services industry at 78 percent. Businesses in this industry include scientific research, legal and accounting, advertising, and computer systems design services.
| Year | 2014 | 2016 | 2018 |
| Already using fibre | 22 | 35 | 52 |
| Within 1 year | 13 | 13 | 8 |
| Over 1 year | 13 | 10 | 8 |
| No plans to use fibre | 45 | 37 | 25 |
Of businesses with fewer than 20 employees, only 28 percent said they had no plans to use fibre, compared with 41 percent in 2016.
“There has been an increase in fibre roll-out across the country, which will likely have contributed to higher uptake by businesses,” said Ms Duoba.
For more information on fibre roll-out, see the quarterly updates on broadband deployment from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
