6. Computers on the Internet
The data presented in this section covers the number of hosts (computers) connected to the Internet in New Zealand, and the size of the New Zealand domain which is a measure of the number of organisations connected.
6.1 Structure of the New Zealand Internet
The Internet in New Zealand has essentially a two-tier structure. The first tier is wholesalers, ie those who operate offshore links and bring overseas Internet traffic to New Zealand. The second comprises retailers, known as Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Internet users are customers of ISPs, who are in turn customers of the wholesalers.
6.2 Number of Computers on the Internet
The data for this section is derived from the results of a survey undertaken every six months by Network Wizards. The full survey results are available on that company’s web server at www.nw.com.
The number of "hosts" (computers) on the Internet is often regarded as a measure of the number of people with access to the Internet. To be counted as a host, a computer must have its own Internet address and be permanently and directly connected to the Internet. Home or small business computers which connect by dialling up to a service provider are therefore not counted. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that there are more users than hosts, possibly by a factor of two or more. To stress this point: the information in this paper refers to the number of computers permanently wired into the Internet in New Zealand, it does not purport to describe directly the number of individuals using the Internet.
The following graph shows the growth in the number of hosts connected to the Internet in New Zealand, as well as the number connected worldwide, from July 1991 through to January 1997.
Growth in Internet Hosts - New Zealand and the World
| | NZ | World |
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| July 1991 | 1,193 | 535,000 |
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| October 1991 | 1,318 | 617,000 |
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| April 1992 | 1,537 | 890,000 |
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| July 1992 | 1,831 | 992,000 |
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| October 1992 | 1,986 | 1,136,000 |
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| January 1993 | 2,053 | 1,313,000 |
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| April 1993 | 2,609 | 1,486,000 |
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| July 1993 | 3,165 | 1,776,000 |
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| October 1993 | 4,342 | 2,056,000 |
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| January 1994 | 5,773 | 2,217,000 |
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| July 1994 | 14,830 | 3,212,000 |
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| October 1994 | 20,578 | 3,864,000 |
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| January 1995 | 31,215 | 4,852,000 |
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| July 1995 | 43,863 | 6,642,000 |
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| January 1996 | 53,610 | 9,472,224 |
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| July 1996 | 77,886 | 12,880,699 |
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| January 1997 | 84,532 | 16,146,360 |
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The straight rising lines on this logarithmic graph tell the same story as the exponential curve usually seen on graphs of growth of the Internet. Growth in the number of hosts in New Zealand has slowed over the last year, shown by the levelling off of the lower line on the right hand side. New Zealand’s Internet had been growing much faster than much of the rest of the world up to 1995, but this extreme rate of growth has levelled off in 1995 and 1996 to a more normal rate, where "normal" in the context of the Internet currently means an annual rate of somewhere between 60% and 80%.
Mainly due to the earlier exponential rates of growth New Zealand now has the seventh highest number of Internet hosts for every 1,000 people. This is shown in the following graph of the ten countries with the highest Internet host counts by population. Interestingly, six out of the ten countries are countries where English is not the first language.
Number of Internet Hosts Per 1000 People - January 1997
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