Vodafone

Some Wanaka Vodafone customers, fed up with mobile network congestion during peak times, are welcoming news of credits to their account and improvements to the service.

Vodafone yesterday launched a 4G network, the first in New Zealand, but Institute of IT Professionals chief executive Paul Matthews said the company had missed a ''real opportunity'' by not lifting data caps.

A second internet link out of New Zealand announced today will not address Telecom's "monopoly" on international connectivity, the Green Party says.

Vodafone lost 50,000 mobile customers between July and September, on the back of similar losses in the New Zealand market earlier this year.

With its $840 million takeover of TelstraClear passing through the required regulatory hoops, a beefed-up Vodafone is on the hunt for customers and is now well placed to emerge as the country's leading mobile and internet provider, says one analyst.

For 10 years, Vodafone NZ chief executive Russell Stanners has lived the dream as technology has evolved from simple phones and text messages to video-on-demand and smartphones people will not leave home without.

Vodafone mobile customers will be stung with a new penalty fee if they are late paying their bill.

The decision by Vodafone to buy TelstraClear for $840million would have a "relatively limited" impact on Telecom, Forsyth Barr broker Tom Bliss said yesterday.

Cheaper and better internet and telephone deals may be on the cards following Vodafone's big move to buy TelstraClear, a telecommunications expert says.

TelstraClear is to be sold by its Australian owner to Vodafone NZ in a deal that could shake up the internet market in New Zealand.