Telecom's beleaguered XT mobile network has suffered further disruption.
On Monday evening, the company advised of an intermittent fault which may have stopped about 20% of text messages being transmitted at the first attempt.
Telecom spokesperson Mark Watts says the issue was related to very high levels of traffic and was resolved by 11pm.
The XT network suffered a major breakdown in mid-December and again in late January, when tens of thousands of people south of Taupo lost service for up to three days.
Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds says he is unable to guarantee the new XT mobile network will never fail again, but the company is doing its best to prevent it.
Mr Reynolds says Telecom has been very fair in dealing with the problem, including paying out $5 million in goodwill payments to customers affected by the January breakdown.
The company has promised an independent inquiry into the crashes.
Listen to Nine to Noon interview with Paul Reynolds