2degrees offers first ‘unlimited’ plan

"We're being really upfront about the fact that this is a bit of a trial for us." Roy Ong, chief marketing officer

2degrees says it is the first phone company to offer a mobile plan that provides ‘‘unlimited’’ calls, text and mobile data, for $129 a month.

Despite describing the plan as ‘‘unlimited’’, spokeswoman Lenska Papich said customers would not be able to call or use mobile broadband ‘‘24x7’’ as a ‘‘fair use’’ clause applied.

While there were no pre-determined fixed caps on usage, 2degrees reserved the right to manage customers’ usage if they were ‘‘outliers’’, she said.

A Commerce Commission spokesman said it couldn’t comment on 2degrees’ offer. ‘‘But in general businesses should use the term ‘unlimited’ very carefully,’’ he said.

‘‘Any conditions or restrictions would need to be extremely clear upfront to avoid the risk of misleading consumers.’’

2degrees chief marketing officer Roy Ong said it would initially offer the plan for a limited time to ‘‘test the waters’’.

‘‘We’re being really upfront about the fact that this is a bit of a trial for us and the market,’’ he said.

‘‘It has to work for customers but it also has to be economic – if it doesn’t stack up on either of those aspects we will rethink continuing to offer it.’’

Terms and conditions on 2degrees’ website said mobile broadband usage should be ‘‘reasonable and not excessive’’ as reasonably determined by 2degrees.

It could decide usage was excessive if it ‘‘materially exceeded’’ average usage over any time frame determined by the company. Similar ‘‘reasonable use’’ conditions applied to calls and texts.

2degrees’ conditions for its unlimited plan also specifically prohibit customers from using their mobile as a wi-fi hotspot to tether with other devices, or using them for machine-to-machine communications.

Ong said the conditions were ‘‘really about ensuring that a few people don’t spoil it for the majority’’.

The Commerce Commission issued guidelines to broadband companies in 2007, warning them to be careful about fair-use clauses, saying it was important the application of such policies should ‘‘not be hidden in small print or in the general terms and conditions of a service’’.

The commission said then that the ‘‘first or overall impression made on the potential customer is very important’’.

Last year Genesis Energy launched an ‘‘unlimited’’ gas offer that also had a fair use policy attached. However, it now describes its plans as ‘‘flat rate’’ and stipulates the maximum usage allowed.

Spark spokesman Richard Llewellyn said it had yet to decide whether it would respond to the new 2degrees plan or raise any objections about its marketing.