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Kiwi's only keeping landlines for access to high-speed broadband

Author
Alex Braae,
Publish Date
Fri, 19 Jan 2018, 4:37PM
Landlines are on the decline, but some people are hanging on to them to access high-speed broadband. (Photo/ Getty)
Landlines are on the decline, but some people are hanging on to them to access high-speed broadband. (Photo/ Getty)

Kiwi's only keeping landlines for access to high-speed broadband

Author
Alex Braae,
Publish Date
Fri, 19 Jan 2018, 4:37PM

A telecommunications expert expects even more people to ditch their landlines.

Chorus lost 250 fixed-line connections a day in the last three months of 2017.

Total fixed connections at the end of December totalled one-point-five-eight million, down from one-point-six-eight million a year earlier.

CEO of the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand Craig Young said the numbers don't surprise him.

"That's a general trend that's been going for some months now, for almost over a year.

"The number itself is not as high as it could be actually, but it does show a reflection and a change in the marketplace."

However, the rapid rate of consumers cutting their fixed connection lines isn't expected to continue forever.

Mr Young said increasingly, the main reason for a fixed connection is to access high-speed broadband, rather than a landline phone.

"I think as we continue to use more and more data, that those connections will reach a point at which they will bottom out.

"I do think that point is soon."

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