Most of the people, services and business we need to connect with have an online presence.
Facebook and other social media keep us connected and websites help us interact with the organisations that help us. Nowadays, the internet is often the first port of call to access services and to do business.
Our 2020 Tenant Satisfaction Survey found more than half (57%) of people had access to the internet on their smart phones; 52% have internet access at home and 51% have an email address. More than a third use social media.
The results in all these areas has been consistently climbing, with big jumps in home access and email address use since last year. Older people were less likely to be using the internet on their devices.
The Digital Inclusion and Wellbeing in New Zealand 2019 survey found 92% of people living in a major city had access to the internet. Slightly more than 69% of people renting community housing had access to the internet (30.15% did not).
Getting your home connected
This is easier than it sounds. All you need to do is contact the company you want to use, and they’ll do the rest.
You can compare products and prices using all sorts of online tools. You can do this on the computers at any of our city’s libraries.
One of the most popular is broadbandcompare.co.nz
Fibre broadband is available in most parts of Christchurch . Enable is the contracted network provider. You can use their site to see if you can get fibre at your house.
You can choose a provider, and your provider will contact Enable to get the cable installed. Enable will talk to your landlord (ŌCHT) to get the ball rolling.
Getting your mobile connected
If you have a smart phone, you are nearly there. All you need to do is contact your provider and ask.
If you don’t have a provider, it pays to shop around to make sure you get a data plan that suits your needs and budget.
There are lots of product and price checkers online. Glimp.co.nz is a popular one.
Take care, though: some products get pretty expensive if you use more than your data allowance!