luckydenvermint

Hi there everyone, long time reader - seems a great forum. I have a few questions which I have searched for on the forum but quite a few of the results are a year or two ago so it was a toss up between starting a new thread or resurrecting numerous others! I went with the 'new' thread idea

My girlfriend and I are looking into moving to either Wellington or Auckland in November time this year. She's a primary teacher and I my role is based in AV production.

A couple of things that concern me are that technology is a big part of my life for both at home and work. I have read that NZ is 10-15 years behind the UK and this worries me.

For example with Broadband is it possible to get unlimited with a decent speed for a reasonable price?

How expensive is digital media such as DVDs, Blu-Rays and Xbox 360 games? is there an amazon.co.uk equivalent in NZ?

Is it possible to still watch BBC iplayer by changing your proxy to seem as if you are still in the UK?

Secondly I'm a massive football fan (soccer) and wonder if there is any coverage in NZ? - I would be willing to get up in the middle of the night to watch a game or two! How do current expats get there football fix?

I've been for a couple of months to NZ before and loved the outdoor activities etc and traveling throughout the country but when it comes to living there I do need some home entertainment options too!

sirplug

If your main concern is technology, then are you sure you're emigrating for the right reasons? There is no unlimited broadband and certainly none for the same prices as the UK.

Media isn't cheap. XBox games fetch full RRP and only drop once the latest game is released. If your DVD, XBox player is from the UK, then have them shipped from the UK

Apparently so but I have no experience of this. I live in NZ and do the stuff that the rest of NZ does.

Yep, SKY!

Then all of the above will quickly become redundant!

Howick

Soccer was on a massive high after the All Whites performance & positioning itself to capatalise on their success.....& then, as per 1982, a lot of talk & bugger all action. The local leagues are fairly average, however, there are some truely talented teenagers which I have seen play. Unfortunately 2 of the 3, this season have drifted off to play rugby. NZ's problem in a nutshell.

As far as EPL, more live soccer than you can shake a very large stick at. I have a good friend who is also a rabid Man U fan.... moved here from the US & his comment is the offering here is better than in the US, for less. In addition, ESPN have a good deal of top flight Spanish soccer.

You will not lack for live action- though, either on the box or down the park.

sr71

Choose your area well in Wellington or Auckland and you should be able to get fast internet access with a reasonable amount of GB allowance 120GB+ etc. I am a pretty heavy user with the following :

-Xbox 360 and PS3 with demo downloads and updates
-Never watch live tv, only downloaded series and movies from US/UK
-Have multi-room audio setup with Sonos using US based music subscriptions for 2-3hr a day minimum
-Streaming from Hulu and iTunes

and I average 60GB to 120Gb a month, although it's started to creep up since I've been downloading more HD content.

So, while people like to get these unlimited packages I'm not sure what they really download and where they would have the time to watch it all.

Reasonable price is not that great, but maybe $150-$200 for Internet and phone package

I also use a proxy for iPlayer but I don't watch on demand, only to start the initial download and then i watch them later usually.

I also found the UK to be pretty bad for technology, 90% of my purchases were from the US, Singapore or Hong Kong etc so in NZ/Aus that is the same way that I get things. There will be plenty of game sellers on eBay etc, even UK based ones that will send them to NZ.

DVDs/Blu-Rays you can still get from amazon.co.uk anyway.

I can even still renew my UK Xbox Gold and buy points using an Amex card (for some reason it region checks MC or Visa)

Bo-Jangles

There are some fairly recent new arrivals operating locally with competitively priced books, games and DVDS which can end up being similarly priced to Amazon, once you take out the potential fluctuations in exchange, postage charges and additional fees associated with using your credit card offshore.


http://www.mightyape.co.nz/

or

http://www.cdwow.co.nz/

simonsi

That isn´t half as important as where in NZ you live. Not everywhere has broadband by any means and there are exchanges that have no current BB capacity. Within all the main metro areas is fine, mostly with a choice of BB suppliers (all using the local copper loop of course), but outside you can get to dial-up quite quickly.

Plans are available up to circa 300G/mth depending on the supplier and plan.

Because of the hilly nature, most NZ terrestrial tv reception can be pretty poor so the Sky/satellite takeup is quite high, NZ freeview is broadcast on the same sat as Sky making setup V easy.

So AV production, remember BIG films are made here, including some leading edge AV technology, how backwards do you think it can be???

sr71

It's not backwards at all, never generally has been. Problem is as you have mentioned - technology varies based on location and the fact that there is a smaller/captive market for some of the suppliers. In many areas you'll find it more advanced than the UK - e.g EFT-POS (kind of like chip & pin, but swipe and pin) has been in common use for 20+ years. Air NZ makes far more use of technology than many European based airlines (RFID bag tags, barcode on iPhone, self check in with baggage etc)

kmthor

I was only looking at this the other day, 10 to 15 years is about right imo.

also have a look at what they charge to get a decent service on a smart phone that may also affect you.

They may be ahead in EFT POS but that would be about it on the techno front. Don't expect anywhere near the speeds you can get in the uk for your internet there are parts that have cable but its mostly it is still copper and ASDL, ADSL 2 if your lucky. it is all very over priced

luckydenvermint

Thanks guys - you've certainly put my mind at rest

I download a lot (mainly US shows for my OH - Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy and that god awful Glee!) so it's good to know there are plans available with bigger download limits.

Would I be able to get a Broadband/Sky combo for around $200 a month? Who are the top suppliers?

Do Vodafone have any rivals in the mobile phone market?

Good to know about the football as well, I will try and get into the Rugby but I will need some premiership action to help with the transition!

simonsi

Satellite TV:
Sky (only pay TV option)
Freeview (on satellite as well as terrestrial)

Broadband:
Telecom (widest landline BB coverage)
Orcon (biggest data plans I think)
Telstraclear
Slingshot
Vodafone (3G mobile broadband and ADSL)
2 Degrees (3G mobile broadband off Vodafone network)

simonsi

Hmmm but the TOTAL urban population of NZ (which is relistically all cable will ever reach due to the buildout costs vs the incremental revenues), is what 2 million, 2.5million??? You can´t expect UK economies of scale on a population equal to the West Midlands...guess the UK internet is overpriced compared to the US???

Factor in how many Kiwi homes will takeup cable (how fast do you want TradeMe to load??) and its a difficult sum to make add up, which is why fibre rollout in NZ is being Govt driven, not commercially driven. Incidentally you should all fear the 10-year regulatory holiday contained within the fibre rollout legislation, that means the wholesale price of the copper circuits will inevitably rise which is NOT GOOD

kmthor

lmao .. no one is having a go at NZ.... but the fact is its over priced and this is the information the person asked for

It has nothing to do with how fast a web page will load.. just look at what virgin are doing with optics, this may let you peek out of those blinkers

simonsi

Why is it overpriced, the cost base is different, if you just mean it is more expensive then say that.

Didn't think you were having a go at NZ, just its clear you have a limited understanding of the costs here.

Consider this, the majority of NZ homes are not connected to mains water even when there is a town watermain running down the street, why? Well many are back sections where the distance to trench makes the cost prohibitive, fibre will have similar issues. Content can be great (I can see what Virgin is offering just fine thanks), but if its going to cost 1000's to just connect then takeup will be limited, therefore revenues limited, therefore content limited.

kmthor

lmao: ....yep that will be it.

nar ...ill stick with overpriced...a simple google would show you

this is relevant how?

kmthor

check this report out

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0711/

pretty comprehensive and NZ done better than i thought.. cost is overpriced tho