Kiwis’ love of mobile no longer a burden to their pocket

Media Release
27 May 2014

Kiwis’ love of mobile no longer a burden to their pocket with ‘Worry-Free Data’

With Kiwis ever-increasing demand for mobile data, 2degrees latest product, ‘Worry-Free Data’ means Pay Monthly and Business customers never have to worry about data bill shock again.

2degrees has found more and more Kiwis are changing the way they use their smartphones because they’re worried about mobile data usage. Latest research shows over half of smartphone users have some level of concern about unexpected data charges. (See graph below). Just under half of customers who have experienced unexpected charges said it was as a result of data overuse.*

‘Worry-free data’, launching today, gives customers advance warning when they are nearing their data limit and once reached, data use is halted until customers buy an additional value pack putting them in complete control of their spend. Value packs start from $5 for 100MB, which provides an effective rate of just 5c/MB.

2degrees is the only mobile provider in New Zealand that puts a hard stop on data usage when customers reach their limit.

2degrees Chief Marketing Officer Malcolm Phillipps says ‘Worry-Free Data’ now puts customers in full control of their mobile spend.

“With over 80% of Kiwis with smartphones saying they never leave home without it and 65% spending more than two hours a day on it**, smartphones are an integral part of people’s daily lives. With this, we have unfortunately seen some customers still being caught out by unexpected casual data charges. So we are doing something about it.

“‘Worry-Free Data’ puts a complete stop to overage and gives our customers surety and the confidence that they can use their mobiles anywhere in New Zealand within their budget parameters without the fear of unexpected charges ever again. It’s just the right thing to do and especially important as smartphone ownership continues to grow and we get ready to launch our 4G network this year.”

‘Worry-Free Data’ is automatically available to all Pay Monthly and Business customers from today, 27th May 2014.

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*2degrees Consumer Market Research – 336 respondents
**2degrees lifestyle survey – 373 respondents

Value Packs start from $5 for 100MB to $50 for 3GB.

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