America's Cup Drives Mobile Usage, Data Consumption In New Zealand

As the final races of the America's Cup "are battled out between Emirates Team New Zealand and Oracle Team USA," Telecom has reported a "massive spike" in mobile data consumption, according to the APNZ. When the catamarans crossed the starting line shortly after 8am on Monday, data consumption "rose to almost double the normal level for that time of day" -- and "spiked again an hour or so later when the second race began." Telecom Retail CEO Chris Quin said, "People are live streaming the game over their mobiles, either using their browser and news websites or via the America's Cup app. People are also communicating about the race over social media" (APNZ, 9/18).