Local Services in New Zealand

As of 2002, there are about 113 airports in New Zealand with Auckland Airport serving as the main international airport handling roughly 11 million visitors in 2005. Other key airports include Christchurch Airport and Wellington Airport.

Only Auckland and Wellington have passenger trains in the country and have been recently upgraded and expanded. The Tranz Metro has 5 lines and uses EMUs and diesel locomotives. Wellington is considered as having the finest passenger train system in New Zealand. Rental cars, coach tours, private car and ferries are the most popular means of transportation for visitors according to an International Visitor Survey in 2000.

There are 124 AM and 290 FM stations operating in the country. Digital Satellite pay TV, Cable TV, UHF pay TV networks, and 41 local TV stations generally accessible in major cities.

New Zealand has excellent domestic and international telephone systems using modern electronic exchanges, optical fiber, and microwave links. Almost 99% of residences have access to domestic individual lines. There are 2 major mobile network providers in the country offering CDMA, GSM, EV-DO, HSDPA, and UMTS systems. Telecom New Zealand which owns greater part of the telephone infrastructure remains the only DSL provider in New Zealand. The major Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) are Xtra, TelstraClear, ihug, Slingshot, Orcon, and Woosh Wireless.