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Mobile makes Kiwis the eyes and ears of summer

Kiwis are no longer content to bask in leisure at summer festivals and hotspots, they’re increasingly concerned with sharing their experiences via images and video using their mobiles. And this increasing data use on faster networks has prompted Telecom to build bigger data allowances into its postpaid mobile plans.

The telco says data consumption at big summer events and at holiday destinations nationwide has nearly doubled on the rate of use at the same places and events last year.

About 20 percent of the data consumer on mobiles is used for social media, it says, adding there’s been a corresponding drop in SMS messaging, down about 25 percent on the same period last year. But Kiwis aren’t just sharing their content with others, they’re taking information in, too.

Telecom says its numbers show uploads and downloads are increasing at a similar rate, with smartphone users contributing pictures and video almost as much as they browse and stream content.

It says upload and download rates during the two week summer holiday have nearly doubled compared to previous years.

“Recent uptake of rich content applications such as Snapchat and Instagram, which harness video, audio and imagery, as well as the launch of the better, faster 4G data network are rapidly enabling more customers instant-access to the online world, which they’re jumping on in huge numbers,” says Telecom Retail CEO Chris Quin.

Events that saw a high rate of content sharing via mobile include those that took place over Auckland Anniversary Weekend, the Color Run, the Seafood festival, the Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta and Laneways Festival.

“It’s awesome to see Kiwis truly maximising their technology to get more out of the experiences that mean the most to them,” says Quin. “Equally, it has meant a steep learning curve as we rush to support volumes of mobile traffic five or six times what we’ve seen in previous years.”

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