The New Zealand Institute has identified national economic benefits from broadband in the range of $2.7-4.4 billion per year with further upside potential possible.
Capturing many of these economic benefits increasingly requires high speeds and so New Zealand’s policy focus should shift from encouraging penetration to increasing the speed of the network. This means investing in a fibre network.
There is a significant cost to waiting. The longer that New Zealand waits, the more economic value it will forego and so New Zealand should approach the investment in fibre with urgency.
Also another read, Securing Our Digital Trade Routes.