As New Zealand families continue to juggle rising household costs, affordability remains one of the biggest barriers preventing access to a home internet connection, a challenge Spark’s subsidised prepaid broadband programme Skinny Jump has been helping tackle for the past decade.
The latest research from InternetNZ estimates around 400,000 households lack meaningful digital access, facing barriers such as the cost of internet connections and devices, limited connectivity or other challenges that prevent them from fully participating online.
At the sharpest end of that challenge, at the time of the last Census, approximately 170,000 households didn’t have internet access at home. Today, Skinny Jump connects nearly 35,000 households – equivalent to around one in five of those identified as being in need in the 2023 Census. Spark Digital Equity Lead Martin La’a says access to reliable connectivity is increasingly essential as more aspects of everyday life move online.
“We launched Jump in 2016 with a simple goal: no family should miss out because they can’t afford to get online. Over the past decade, more than 100,000 households have been connected through Skinny Jump, giving them access to more than 418 million gigabytes of data, while the commercial value of subsidised broadband exceeded $9.1 million in FY25 alone.
“Noone should have to choose between staying connected and paying for essentials such as food and rent. That’s exactly why Skinny Jump was created.”
Today, Skinny Jump is one of New Zealand’s largest digital inclusion programmes, designed for people who find the cost of internet a barrier to having a connection at home. Customers receive 15GB of free data each month and can purchase additional 35GB data packs for $5, with no long-term contracts or credit checks.
Digital Inclusion Alliance Aotearoa Operations Director and Trustee, Laurence Zwimpfer, oversees day-to-day operations of Skinny Jump including the nationwide network of 291 community delivery partners and says they’ve seen an increase in the number of families coming to them for support.
“One story that has stayed with us is a grandmother who regularly drove her grandchildren to a McDonald’s car park so they could use the free Wi-Fi to complete their homework because internet at home simply wasn’t affordable. No child should have to do their homework from a car park.
“Internet is no longer a nice-to-have – it’s how children learn, people find work, access healthcare and stay connected with their communities. Skinny Jump exists to ensure more New Zealanders can access those opportunities, regardless of their financial circumstances.”
Skinny Jump operates on a not-for-profit basis where the revenue generated covers the costs of the free modems, community partner network, product development, and customer care and education, with the value of the data donated.
