Great news for Kiwis who love a fair deal and an informed choice. In a move that will make it simpler for people to compare and choose between mobile plans, 3 telecoms companies...

Great news for Kiwis who love a fair deal and an informed choice.

In a move that will make it simpler for people to compare and choose between mobile plans, 3 telecoms companies have agreed to provide usage and spend information to customers and prompt them to consider whether they are on the right plan.

This could result in real savings on mobile phone plans. According to Newstalk ZB the Commerce Commission released data on 80,000 mobile phone bills in September last year showing that a quarter of contract consumers could save an estimated $11.60 by changing plans, while residential consumers could potentially save an average of $48.65 a month.

What is changing?

The Commerce Commission has announced an agreement with Vodafone, Spark and 2degrees to make it simpler for people to compare and choose between providers.

Under the agreement the telecoms companies will:

• Provide 12-months usage and spend information to customers
• Provide an annual usage and spending summary to customers, including a prompt to consider whether they are on the right plan
• Promote the development of a comparison tool which will allow consumers to choose between providers and plans

“Consumers want easy access to their information so they can choose the best provider and plan – and they want tools to help them do that – so this is a big step in the right direction for competition and consumer choice,” said Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson.

What does this mean for Kiwi Consumers?

In our opinion this is great news for New Zealand consumers who want to make an informed choice about the best mobile phone plan for them.  The provision of usage and spend information for customers, and a prompt to consider whether they are on the right plan will offer a new level of clarity.

At NZ Compare we are passionate about creating a world where a fully informed choice is the only choice. We pride ourselves on helping Kiwi consumers make an informed choice about broadband, power and money.

The development of a mobile comparison tool which will allow consumers to choose between mobile phone providers and plans will provide a discovery platform to help create a world of informed shoppers.

When faced with too much information, consumers can often experience choice paralysis and ultimately choose to make no decision (or a poor decision). This increase transparency and development of a comparison tool will empower customers to feel confident when choosing a new mobile plan.

Watch this space, we love building comparison platforms that support kiwis making fully informed choices!