-
Related
A new survey shows New Zealanders are the second-largest users of the internet in the world.
Figures by the Internet World Stats website show 76.3% of New Zealanders, or 3.2 million people, use the internet.
Australia's internet penetration was 68.4% of the population.
The biggest uptake was in Malta, where 78.1% access the web.
New Zealand was followed by Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Hong Kong, then Australia, the United States, Canada and Norway.
The percentages refer to the proportion of the country's population who have access to the internet and know how to use it.
The figures come as Telecom promises faster and cheaper high-speed broadband internet services, but the government keeps the pressure on the company with warnings regulation might still be needed.
Prime
Minister Helen Clark, in her opening speech to parliament, called
for initiatives to cut prices and improve unsatisfactory uptake
rates for broadband, an area where the country lags other developed
nations.
Clark said current broadband services are too expensive, slow, and
contain restrictions on the amount of data that can be
downloaded.
"While recent announcements of price reductions and other changes
are welcome, the government will be addressing the relevant policy,
legislative and regulatory settings as a matter of urgency," Clark
said.
