Internet bills rising for Vodafone home users
Vodafone is hiking the price of all its ultrafast, copper and cable broadband plans by $3 a month from February in a move that will increase broadband bills for about 400,000 households.
The sweeping price rise comes as new chief executive Jason Paris consults its 3000 staff on a major restructure designed to cut the company’s costs and get the subsidiary’s finances in better shape for a planned float on the NZX exchange next year.
Sources have suggested hundreds of jobs may go, though the company has denied having any targets.
Vodafone said in a statement to customers that its costs in providing broadband had been increasing.
The price rise will not affect tens of thousands of customers who have signed up to Vodafone’s home wireless broadband service, but all other home broadband customers will see their bills rise.
The price of Vodafone’s cheapest copper and ultrafast broadband (UFB) plans will go from $69.99 to $72.99, while its priciest ‘‘Fibre Max’’ plan will increase in price from $124.99 to $127.99.
The Commerce Commission estimates Vodafone has a 26 per cent share of the fixed broadband market, behind Spark which has a 43 per cent market share.
Spark increased the price of its copper broadband plans by $5 a month in October, affecting about
350,000 households.
Its managing director, Simon Moutter, also issued a warning the following month that price rises for its UFB plans were also likely.
That was despite Communications Minister Kris Faafoi trumpeting a commercial deal with the largest UFB network provider, Chorus, that he said would ‘‘protect New Zealanders from future price shocks’’.
That deal will cap the price internet providers pay Chorus for
100 megabit UFB connections at $45 a month until July, with that cap then rising by $1 for the following year.
But Moutter, speaking at the company’s annual meeting in Auckland, indicated Spark was not impressed with the outcome.