High costs
December 16th 2011 06:21
A new report from the New Zealand Commerce Commission says that fixed-line and mobile phone service pricing is higher in New Zealand compared with the rest of the OECD, although we are on target for broadband.
What it doesn't mention is that broadband costs are still high as well, and that there are plenty of places in the country - particularly rural areas - that can't get broadband still. The Government is planning on increasing the level of broadband access, but it's talking in terms of schools being the first recipients of it, not households. Great to teach kids how to use broadband at school when they can't access it at home.
However, this isn't just a New Zealand problem: a friend of mine in a city in Australia writes: The broadband issue is ongoing - I have to use a wireless connection, transmitted via Mobile Phone towers. I only have an 8gig plan, that's not much & it's pretty expensive compared to the standard landline ADSL2 connection.- I could have 200gig for the same price..
But New Zealanders are still suffering from high fixed-line voice services. The key reason for this is the high monthly line rental charged by Telecom, and the lack of alternative plans tailored for low levels of voice usage.
We like to think of the world as being wonderfully connected; unfortunately, even in the first world countries, there is considerable disparity.
What it doesn't mention is that broadband costs are still high as well, and that there are plenty of places in the country - particularly rural areas - that can't get broadband still. The Government is planning on increasing the level of broadband access, but it's talking in terms of schools being the first recipients of it, not households. Great to teach kids how to use broadband at school when they can't access it at home.
However, this isn't just a New Zealand problem: a friend of mine in a city in Australia writes: The broadband issue is ongoing - I have to use a wireless connection, transmitted via Mobile Phone towers. I only have an 8gig plan, that's not much & it's pretty expensive compared to the standard landline ADSL2 connection.- I could have 200gig for the same price..
But New Zealanders are still suffering from high fixed-line voice services. The key reason for this is the high monthly line rental charged by Telecom, and the lack of alternative plans tailored for low levels of voice usage.
We like to think of the world as being wonderfully connected; unfortunately, even in the first world countries, there is considerable disparity.
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