It’s about to get easier for people to find out if they’re getting the best phone plan possible thanks to a new agreement between New Zealand’s three largest telcos.
Last year, the Commerce Commission found consumers could be wasting up to $50 a month by being on the wrong plan.
So, the commission asked Vodafone, Spark and 2 Degrees to work together to make it fairer.
The voluntary changes, which won’t come until at least October, will mean the companies would have to develop tools to make it easier for people to compare plans.
The three companies wouldn’t be interviewed today, letting a pan-industry organisation speak on their behalf.
“What the mobile operators have agreed to do is provide 12 months worth of data and also annual summaries,” Telecommunications Industry Forum CEO Geoff Thorn said.
“What that'll give better information to consumers so that they understand what products they are purchasing, what data they are using and how much they are paying for it.”
But a consumer organisation said while it was a “good start”, it didn’t go far enough.
“Part of the problem is leaving it to the industry, and each player, they are going to be able to do their own thing,” Technology Users Association CEO Craig Young said.
“You’re not necessarily going to be able to compare things because not everyone is going to do it in the same way and also there's more information people will need.”
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