More than a million New Zealand homes used broadband to connect to the internet in 2009, double the number from three years ago, Statistics New Zealand said today.While rural homes were less likely to have a broadband connection than those in urban areas,
More than a million New Zealand homes used broadband to connect to the internet in 2009, double the number from three years ago, Statistics New Zealand said today.
While rural homes were less likely to have a broadband connection than those in urban areas, the gap is closing. In 2009, one in two rural homes had broadband, compared with 1 in 5 in 2006, according to the three-yearly Household Use of Information and Communication Technology Survey.
The survey showed that of the total population:
• 80% of people used the internet, up from 69% in 2006
• 72% sent or received emails, up from 62% in 2006
• 43% made an online purchase, up from 29% in 2006
• 37% used the internet for social networking.
The survey of 15,000 households across the country also found that:
• households with Iinternet access that reported experiencing a loss of data, time, or other damage as a result of a virus decreased to 13%, from 17% in 2006
• 2% of internet users reported incidents of internet fraud in both 2006 and 2009
• The number of mobile phone users who received harassing or threatening messages via a mobile phone, decreased from 5% in 2006 to 3% in 2009.
In 2009, only 12% of New Zealand homes used a dial-up connection. Fifty percent of these cited the cost of broadband as their main reason for remaining on dial-up, the same proportion as in 2006.
