Vodafone, Spark, 2degrees agree to Commerce Commission changes

Three big telecommunication companies have agreed to make it simpler for people to compare and choose between providers.

Vodafone, Spark and 2degrees have agreed to implement changes drawn up by the Commerce Commission to improve choice.

The operators will now have to:

• 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," Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson said.

"This is a big step in the right direction for competition and consumer choice."

The Telecommunications Forum said the industry was committed to continual improvement.

"We agree with the Commerce Commission that as an industry we can make further improvements," chief executive Geoff Thorn said.

"We're pleased the Commerce Commission has agreed to leave the specific design to individual providers about how usage and spend information is provided to their customers.

"This information is part of the overall customer service package - an area in which providers are vigorously competing and innovating to provide the best for their customers, and it's important that this continues."

He said the industry was committed to investing, innovating and improving.

Gilbertson said this would not be the last change.

"This is the first initiative in the Commission's new drive to improve retail service quality in telecommunications. We've worked with industry to identify improvements that will make a real difference for consumers.

"There is more work to do in this space but I'm really delighted that we are off to such a positive start."