Press Release – Commerce Commission
Vodafone NZ Limited has been found guilty of engaging in conduct that was liable to mislead consumers in relation to its FibreX branded broadband service.
In a case brought by the Commerce Commission and heard last year, the Auckland District Court ruled on Friday that Vodafone was guilty of nine charges under section 11 of the Fair Trading Act. These related to conduct in Wellington, Kapiti and Christchurch where its FibreX branded service was offered, between 26 October 2016 and 28 March 2018.
Judge Sinclair found Vodafone’s branding and advertising was liable to mislead consumers into thinking that the FibreX branded service was delivered over a fibre-to-the-home network (like those services delivered over the Government-subsidised Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) networks), when it was not. It did this by naming its broadband service “FibreX” and advertising on billboards, radio, in-store, online and in direct marketing, using phrases such