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  "description": "June 8 set a new daily data record on the Chorus network as winter streaming and game updates drove a traffic surge. Also: Starlink reveals its network upgrade plan, handset sales remain flat and Tuanz reports back from its annual conference.",
  "path": "/download-weekly-winter-game-updates-see-ufb-traffic-surge/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-07-17T19:53:44.000Z",
  "site": "https://billbennett.co.nz",
  "tags": [
    "You can subscribe here",
    "Fortnite has form",
    "Net traffic spikes as Fortnite update lands",
    "in 2017 we were recognised as one of the world's leading buyers of paid online services",
    "Download Weekly reported on the summit in May",
    "could enable more MVNOs",
    "ideal for data centres",
    "farmers falling behind",
    "increasingly sceptical about whether this government can deliver",
    "his withering overview of Spark’s performance",
    "Spark announced it was adopting Agile companywide",
    "half of Spark’s capital was spent on software",
    "Mattr, focused on identify and verification software.",
    "Spark plans to retire PSTN"
  ],
  "textContent": "**In today's newsletter**\n\n  * Data demand continues to grow\n  * Starlink reveals network upgrade plan\n  * Flat phone handset sales\n  * Tuanz reports back\n\n\n\nWas this email forwarded to you? You can subscribe here.\n\n* * *\n\n## Data in demand as temperatures drop\n\nJune 8 saw a new record for daily data use on the Chorus network. The fibre wholesale company says it moved 30 petabytes of data as gamers downloaded the latest Fortnite update.\n\nPer-connection downloads averaged 671 GB in June. That’s a four percent increase compared with 642 GB in April.\n\nAt the top end of the curve, close to 19 percent of customers downloaded a terabyte of data. This coincided with the arrival of cold, wintry weather and the Big Fibre Boost which saw customers on standard plans move from 300 Mbps to 500 Mbps.\n\n🎮\n\nFortnite has form (2020) when it comes to Chorus network data surges and five years ago in 2018: Net traffic spikes as Fortnite update lands.\n\n### Fibre uptake\n\nFibre uptake continued to edge up in the quarter, by 0.1 percent. This brings the total uptake to 72.1 percent across the 1,532,000 addresses passed by Chorus’ network. The growth was faster in areas connected during the second phase of the UFB network build with the total in UFB2 areas climbing from 61 to 62 percent.\n\nChorus says another 11,000 users signed up for the entry level Home Fibre Starter plan which increased its speeds from 50/10 to 100/20 Mbps in June. This is a product aimed at less well-off homes. Two-thirds of the users signing up for the plan were new connections.\n\nDuring the quarter, 15,000 copper lines were disconnected. The total has now dropped to 92,000. Chorus expects there will be no copper lines in its fibre areas by the middle of next year.\n\nNew Zealanders have long been enthusiastic consumers of streaming media, in 2017 we were recognised as one of the world's leading buyers of paid online services.\n\n* * *\n\n## Starlink promises terabit capacity next year\n\nA Starlink network update says SpaceX aims to launch its third-generation satellites in the first half of 2026. The update says these will “add an order of magnitude improvement in capacity compared to the current satellite”.\n\nSpecifically, the new satellites will deliver a terabyte per second of downlink capacity and 200 Gbps of uplink capacity. It says this is ten times the downlink capacity and 24 times the uplink capacity of today’s second generation satellites.\n\nOn top of that, Starlink says the third-generation satellites will use next-generation computers, modems, beamforming and switching to improve the network’s latency. The new satellites will connect to each other with optical links for additional backhaul.\n\nStarlink says it is aiming for 20ms latency.\n\nWhile Starlink promises a lot, there is a catch. SpaceX has optimised its satellites to launch on the company’s Starship rockets. They are the ones that keep exploding.\n\n* * *\n\n## Busy time for appointments\n\nSpark network simplification leader **Steven Lawrence** is the new chief technical director for **Next Generation Critical Communications**.\n\nDuring his time with Spark, Lawrence worked on the telco’s contribution to the Public Safety Network’s cellular roaming and priority services. He also had responsibility for Spark’s delivery of 111 emergency services.\n\nCrown-owned research network operator **Reannz** has appointed **Jo Perez** as head of corporate services and chief financial officer. Perez has previously worked for New Zealand Rugby, Department of Corrections and Trade Me.\n\nFormer Trustpower and Mercury chief executive **Vince Hawksworth** is now working as a power and energy strategy advisor for **Datagrid**.\n\n* * *\n\n## Phone market flat in Q2, likely to stay that way for 2025\n\nThe analysts don’t agree. Canalys says the phone market “marginally declined” in the second quarter of 2025. Counterpoint says the market was up two percent. IDC says it was up one percent. Taken collectively, we can assume there’s not much going on.\n\nAll three agree Samsung is the top-selling phone brand. Apple is in second place and Xiaomi in third. While Samsung and Apple grew faster than the overall market, Samsung grew the most.\n\nCanalys thinks the market will remain flat over the whole of 2025. IDC hints at growth without offering anything specific. Counterpoint makes no comment on the subject.\n\nThe analysts all note the current uncertainty over tariffs is having an impact on the market. There’s a sense that, if or when. the US stops its on-again, off-again tariff talk, the market is poised for take-off, but don’t expect that to happen this year.\n\n* * *\n\n## Sign up for Bill Bennett\n\ntelecommunications + technology from a New Zealand perspective\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.\n\n## Tuanz releases Connecting Aotearoa report\n\nTuanz — Connecting Aotearoa\n\nChorus has released a report based on the Connecting Aotearoa summit in Hamilton. (Download Weekly reported on the summit in May.)\n\nLike the conference, the report aims to answer the question:\nWhy can’t 100 percent of New Zealanders be connected?\n\nWith one in five households still not connected, there’s a pressing need to bring everyone who wants to be online into the fold.\n\nWhile there are issues with rural connectivity and digital skills, the cost of connecting remains the most intractable issue.\n\n* * *\n\n## In other news...\n\n  * Auckland firm IQ Hive could enable more MVNOs—Reseller News\n  * South Island cool climate makes it ideal for data centres—The Press\n  * New Zealand farmers falling behind on technology transformation—Farmers Weekly\n  * “Senior industry figures I’ve spoken to are increasingly sceptical about whether this government can deliver on anything that requires actual strategic thinking in the tech space.”—BusinessDesk (paywall).\n\n\n\n* * *\n\n## Analyst skewers Spark’s Agile strategy\n\nEden Bradfield takes no prisoners in his withering overview of Spark’s performance. The story is behind BusinessDesk’s paywall.\n\nAmong the jabs, he connects the company’s embrace of Agile to its sagging share price.\n\nAgile is a software development methodology. It doesn’t necessarily translate well to other businesses disciplines.\n\nIn 2018, Spark announced it was adopting Agile companywide. I asked then-CEO Simon Moutter about this.\n\nHe said half of Spark’s capital was spent on software. Hence Spark was a software company. Kind of.\n\nIt sounded plausible. Spark owned Lightbox, a streaming TV business. There was Spark Sport and Morepork, the home security business, Qrious, a data analytics division and Mattr, focused on identify and verification software.\n\nAll could be viewed through a software and digital services lens.\n\nSince then, Lightbox, Spark Sport and Morepork have left the building. To the outside world today’s Spark looks less like a software company. Yet the commitment to Agile remains.\n\nLike others, Bradfield raises the prospect of a private equity buy out.\n\nIt’s possible. If that happens, how long do you give Agile?\n\n* * *\n\n## Download Weekly five years ago\n\nSpark plans to retire PSTN in Devonport and Miramar by Christmas. The move will affect around 1000 customers.\n\n**Enjoy Download Weekly?** Feel free to pass this email on to your colleagues.\n\n**Have your say.** Subscribers are able to comment on any newsletter or story on the website. Just scroll to the bottom of the page. Reader emails are also welcome.\n\n****The Download Weekly is supported by Chorus New Zealand.****",
  "title": "Winter streaming, game updates see UFB traffic surge",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-06T23:15:01.018Z"
}