Internet access numbers

We’ve updated our Internet Statistics resources page with the latest ISP Survey from Statistics NZ. Run annually, the 2011 Survey (as of 30 June 2011) is an excellent way to keep tabs on the evolution of Internet access. Also, given that it’s a census with high response rates (100% for key respondents), it makes the numbers authoritative.

The Key Facts provides a good summary. However, I had a look at the Excel tables to understand the numbers better and tinker with some of the numbers.

Internet connections

The definition of broadband for this Survey is any technology that provides “always on” service. That means everything other than dial-up and ISDN. There were 1.5 million broadband subscribers, up 14% over the year, accounting for 85% of all Internet connections. The total number of (fixed) Internet connections was therefore (1.5 million/85%) or 1.76 million.

Fifteen percent of 1.76 million is about 264,000. Most of these are dial-up connections. What’s it going to take for these people to move to broadband? It seems that there will continue to be a large number of people who are happy to stay on dial-up for a while yet.

In addition to broadband connections, there were 1.9 million mobile Internet connections (those who had used a mobile phone to connect to the Internet within the previous 3 months plus those with dedicated mobile data connections). So the total number of Internet connections in New Zealand is around 3.66 million. That’s connections of course, not people. Still it’s very impressive as it is about the same number of people we have aged 12 and above. We are truly a connected nation.

The 1.9 million mobile connections excludes those connecting via a data modem/dongle which is included in the “Cellular, cable, and satellite” category of fixed broadband connections. So the actual number of mobile connections was higher than 1.9 million. Probably closer to 2 million which makes it about 55% of total Internet connections. Not only are we a connected nation but also a highly mobile one.

(As an aside, I can’t see the logic of including cable with cellular and satellite and hope that future surveys will report cable as a separate category.)

Amongst fixed broadband connections, fastest growing was the “Cellular, cable, and satellite” category at 46% over the year, followed by fibre optic at 42%. DSL growth was a small 6% while fixed wireless dropped 8%. DSL remains the most common connection type (68%), accounting for about a million of the broadband subscribers. With DSL growth rates below average growth rates, the proportion of DSL broadband connections is declining steadily. Fibre optic connections are still a drop (0.25%) but we can expect that to grow in future surveys.

The number of DSL and fibre optic connections was just over a million. That’s how many account holders are potentially liable under the 3strikes law. Multiply that with the average number of people per connection and there are a large number of unhappy people out there.

Internet data

Our appetite for data is growing steadily with the most common monthly data cap in the 5-20 GB range. On the other hand, no cap plans have almost disappeared from the statistics. This is reflected in the jump in the number of people with 20+ GB plans. These numbers have to be interpreted cautiously as it involves a range of complex factors interacting- from the psychological impact of data caps on Internet usage to marketing moves by ISPs.

Unmetered data consumed per subscriber was 0.8 GB per month. Look to see this increase in future years as ISPs cut deals with major content providers as an alternative (or in addition) to across the board data cap increases.

Security and IPv6

Forty-five percent of ISPs monitor Internet traffic for signs of compromised security. This is a surprisingly low number as it means that more than half of the ISPs don’t. With 4% of broadband subscribers or 60,000 computers showing signs of infection, clearly many ISPs need to pay more attention to this threat. Botnets are bad for ISPs and their customers so detecting and neutralising zombies is a win-win proposition.

Only 15% of the ISPs had no plans on making IPv6 available to their subscribers. Thirty percent already had it available. That’s good news though it’s likely that a majority of these ISPs are relatively small so there is still some way to go to provide people with the choice to use IPv6. Still, it shows the message of the IPv6 Task Force  is getting through.