Wi-Fi access on Queenstown's ski mountains has proved popular, with nearly 10,000 devices registered in less than two months of operation, Telecom says.
NZSki and Telecom introduced free guest Wi-Fi with a large data capacity at both Coronet Peak and the Remarkables for the first time this season.
NZSki sales and marketing general manager Craig Douglas said the Wi-Fi trial had been very successful. Observations and early data indicated many snow sports fans were connecting, he said.
''We see a lot of people up there take a lunch break with a laptop or an iPad.
''Parents might still be trying to run a remote business while they're on holiday with the kids out on the snow.
''The connectivity has been really valuable for people to continue their lives, but also we've seen quite a pick-up in the amount of social media traffic around the mountains.
''We're encouraging people to post about their experiences so that others can judge from their experience 'What if I go there?'.''
Telecom connectivity on the mountains followed its trial of a free public Wi-Fi service in Queenstown, Frankton, Arrowtown, Lake Hawea and Wanaka and other popular New Zealand holiday hotspots last summer.
The trial in Queenstown proved so successful Telecom extended it to the end of September. Almost 34,000 devices have been registered in Queenstown, about a quarter of all devices registered nationally.
Telecom found the most popular day for its Wi-Fi service this winter so far has been July 19. The peak can be attributed to installation at NZSki, school holidays and the snow sports season.
The most popular Wi-Fi access point in Queenstown is installed at the payphone on Shotover St, across the road from Fergburger. It had the most device registrations, with nearly 4000.
''We are reviewing more access point locations at the moment. We are interested in talking to partners who may want to host our Wi-Fi solution,'' Telecom spokeswoman Holly Wilkinson, of Auckland, said.
Wi-Fi was expected to return to both ski areas next season, but whether it remained free, as the ski company wanted, or became part of Telecom's subscriber network, was yet to be determined.
