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Landline use plummets as mobile communication takes over

21 May, 2018

The way we're communicating is changing.

A new report from the Commerce Commission has tracked a big change in the way New Zealanders communicate. 

Mobile phone calls are way up, texting is down and so is the use of landlines.

Average use is dropping by 55 percent to 85 minutes a month.

Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Stephen Gale says that calling on mobiles has gone up by 83 percent, "so people are really substituting to the type of phone that's convenient to use and actually very cheap".

The report also found average mobile data use has skyrocketed, by 1600 percent in just five years, reaching 1.2 gigabytes a month.

Internet speeds are increasing too, with the average home broadband download now 40 percent faster.

But that brave new world split opinion at Christchurch takeaway spot Thai Container today.

"I find phones a bit redundant," one diner told Newshub. "I find them the work of the devil to be truly honest, because you just get these calls from call centres and surveys." 

Countered another: "We live rurally, and cell phone reception can be a bit dodgy, so it's quite nice to have that extra security there."   

Landlines hanging in there... just.
Newshub.
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