Extra data capacity for holidaymakers

The idea of a summer holiday is to relax and switch off – but for most New Zealanders that doesn’t mean leaving their gadgets at home.

During last year’s Christmas holiday period, Vodafone customers used a whopping 970 Terabytes of data on the network – up 87 per cent during the same period the year before.

That’s enough data to binge watch more than 300,000 HD Netflix episodes this summer.

“Every year we see an increasing demand for data on our network, especially over the Christmas break, and we’re expecting those figures to continue to rise this summer holiday,” said Vodafone’s technology director, Tony Baird.

Vodafone has invested heavily in its network in the lead up to Christmas this year, spending more than $2.5 million upgrading cell sites around the country’s most popular holiday hotspots.

New 4G capacity has been added to the Lake Karipiro site to ensure continued connectivity for customers in the area over the holiday period.

The network investment is part of a series of planned upgrades ahead of an influx of holiday goers expected at the popular lakeside location over the summer months.

“Whether it’s sharing holiday snaps on social media or keeping tabs on the business from the bach, kiwis will do it all from their smartphone this summer. We’re working hard to ensure our network is up to the test again this year,” Baird said.

Last Christmas, Whangamata, Mangawhai, Whitianga, Pauanui and Matarangi were at the top of the country’s most connected holiday hotspots, based on data usage at the popular locations.