With a population of 4.1 million, New Zealand is a very small potential telecom market. By the end 2004, the number of fixed lines had reached 1.87 million, representing a penetration of 45.6%. The number of fixed lines continues to stagnate with a growth rate of 1.1% in 2004 and an expected growth rate of 0.4% in 2005. This trend should continue in the coming years, as competition is scarce and unbundling is still not on the agenda. It is therefore forecasted that the number of fixed subscribers will grow by an average rate of 0.4% in the next 5 years, to reach 1.91 million at the end of 2009.

New Zealand's mobile sector continues its steady growth with 3.4 million subscribers at the end of June 2005, representing a penetration of 85.0%. It is forecasted that the number of mobile customers will grow by 14.0% in 2005, compared with 12.2% in 2004. As saturation nears however, mobile growth should start to slowly decrease from 2006 onwards. It is therefore expected that the number of mobile subscribers should increase by an average of 6.4% in the next 5 years to reach 4.2 million and a penetration of 98.9% at the end of 2009. By mid-2005, both major mobile operators had launched their 3G services.

New Zealand is well behind most industrialised countries when in comes to broadband proliferation. With a broadband penetration of 5.1% at the end of 2004, New Zealand has a long way to go before it can compare with countries such as Korea, Hong Kong and Canada where broadband penetration stood at 24.8%, 20.9% and 17.7% respectively at the end of 2004.

This situation has however improved starting in 2004 and continuing into the first half of 2005, with the regulator's proposed Internet network unbundling and the advent of wireless Internet. Now that the service has taken-off, it should be the main generator of Internet expansion in the coming years.

In 2004 alone, the number of broadband connections increased by 112.1% to reach 210,000 subscribers. This growth trend should continue with the number of broadband customers forecasted to double in 2005.

 Find our more about the world's New Zealand's telecom market in HOT TELECOM's new 30-page country report.
More info: http://www.hottelecom.com/new-zealand-copr.html