Household Use of Information and Communication Technology Survey: 2006
The Household Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Survey: 2006 provides information on household access to and individual use of ICT. This core set of official statistics will assist individuals, communities, businesses and government to understand how ICT is changing New Zealand's economy and society.
The Household Use of ICT Survey for 2006 is the first survey of its type to be conducted in New Zealand and will be repeated every two years. Results will be made available to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for inclusion in the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2007 to be updated in mid 2007.
Household computer and Internet access
In the December 2006 quarter, 71.6 percent (1.1 million) of households in New Zealand had access to a computer at home. Although not directly comparable, data from Statistics New Zealand's Household Economic Survey (HES), from the period ending 30 June 2001, showed that 47 percent of households had access to a computer.
Nearly two-thirds of households (64.5 percent or 1 million) had access to the Internet at home. Data from the 2001 Census indicated that 37 percent of households had access to the Internet in 2001.
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Internet access connection types
In the December 2006 quarter, nearly one-third (33.2 percent) of New Zealand households had a broadband connection to the Internet, while 30.9 percent had a dial-up connection. The most common type of broadband connection was digital subscriber line (DSL) with 23 percent of households. Cable was next most prevalent with 6.1 percent, followed by wireless (5.6 percent), and other broadband connections at 0.3 percent of households.
Regional and rural/urban Internet access
In the December 2006 quarter the Wellington region had the highest proportion of households with access to the Internet at 72.7 percent. Auckland region had 68.9 percent, and Canterbury had 67.2 percent. Northland and the Gisborne/Hawkes Bay regions shared the lowest proportion of households with Internet access, at 54.7 percent and 54.1, respectively.
The Auckland region had the highest penetration of broadband access, with 43.1 percent of all households having access. Wellington and Canterbury followed with 38.3 and 33.2 percent broadband Internet access, respectively. The Manawatu-Wanganui area had the lowest proportion of households with broadband access, at 22.7 percent.
In the December quarter, the proportions of households with Internet access were almost identical for the 'all rural' (64.2 percent) and 'all urban' (64.6 percent) areas. When the all urban areas group was separated into main urban, secondary urban and minor urban groups, there were significant differences between the three areas. Sixty-seven percent of households in main urban areas had Internet access, in secondary urban areas it was 56.2 percent, while only 48.1 percent of households had access in minor urban areas.
A significant difference was also seen between rural centres and smaller rural areas with 56 and 65.9 percent of households reporting access to the Internet, respectively.
The definition of urban and rural areas is available in the technical notes section of this release.
Reasons households do not have broadband
In the December 2006 quarter, over half (50.8 percent) of all households with only dial-up access to the Internet reported that cost was a reason for not having broadband access. In rural areas, 35.1 percent of households identified that lack of availability of broadband services was a reason they did not have broadband, while only 3.7 percent of urban areas reported this reason.
Urban areas also reported that dial-up access was sufficient for household use in 34.9 percent of households, while only 21.8 percent of rural households identified this reason.
Only 2.2 percent of all households indicated that they had concerns about the service of
broadband suppliers.
Household Internet security
Of households that had access to the Internet at home during the December 2006 quarter, 16.8 percent reported that they had experienced loss of data, time, and/or had damage to their household computer as a result of a virus or something of a similar nature.
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Individual Internet use
The proportion of individuals aged 15 years and over using the Internet in the previous 12 months from any location was 69.0 percent in the December 2006 quarter. Of those aged between 15 and 24 years, 85.5 percent had used the Internet in the previous 12 months, while only 17.3 percent of people in the 75 years and older age group had done so.
A total of 79.8 percent of people with a tertiary-level qualification had used the Internet in the previous 12 months, compared with 58.4 percent of those without a tertiary qualification.
The proportion of all individuals 15 years and over who used the Internet from home in the previous 12 months was 60.4 percent. One-quarter (25.1 percent) used the Internet from work. Only 6 percent of individuals reported using the Internet from a community Internet access facility in the previous 12 months.
Individual Internet purchases
Just over one-quarter (28.6 percent) of all individuals made at least one online purchase in the previous 12 months, to the December quarter 2006. The 25 to 44 year age group were the most likely to make an online purchase, with 38.9 percent of individuals in this age group doing so.
Individual Internet activities
Sending or receiving emails was the most common personal activity (90.3 percent) for individuals who used the Internet in the 12 months to the December 2006 quarter. General web browsing was the next most popular activity (84.4 percent) followed by obtaining information on goods and services (64.8 percent of individuals). Over half of all individuals (53.9 percent) indicated they had used Internet banking, while 32.2 percent had downloaded or listened to online music.
Mobile phones use
In the 12 months to the December 2006 quarter, 86.2 percent of households reported they had personal use of at least one mobile phone.
The proportion of individuals (rather than households) with personal use of a mobile phone in the previous 12 months was 80 percent (almost 2.6 million individuals). In the 15 to 24 years age group, 90.6 percent had personal use of a mobile phone. This contrasted with the 75 years and over age group where just over one-third (33.9 percent) had personal use of a mobile phone.
Of all individuals, 3.7 percent reported they had received harassing or threatening messages while using a mobile phone in the previous 12 months.
For technical information contact:
Nadia McLellan or Steve Riley
Wellington 04 931 4600
Email: info@stats.govt.nz