Vodafone New Zealand is moving customers still using older circuit-switched phone lines (plain old telephone system / POTS) onto services that offer voice over fibre, wireless, UltraFast HFC or copper broadband (VoIP).
Joe Goddard, Experience & Commercial Director, Vodafone NZ explains: “We’re simplifying and improving our systems and withdrawing the legacy analogue voice technology for residential customers and offering to move them onto newer technology before April next year. Most customers will actually save themselves money by moving onto a broadband-based calling system.
“All Vodafone copper phone customers will have the option to move to a broadband based calling service to stay connected. Depending on where they live and their personal circumstances, that might be using fibre, wireless broadband, UltraFast HFC or copper broadband access technology.
“The first customers we’re transitioning are those who still use the old Spark (originally Telecom) copper phone network, which totals around 10,000 connections that we’ll handhold through the upgrade before March 31, 2022.”
As Vodafone NZ now only sells phone plans that make calls using broadband technology, if customers want to keep a phone service with Vodafone, they’ll need to get a broadband plan that comes with a phone line. Customers can keep their existing phone number on the service they choose, which may include fibre, wireless broadband, UltraFast HFC or copper broadband depending on their address.
