Comunica says 11,000 signed

By Richard Braddell

WELLINGTON - A fledgling cellular company, Comunica, claims to have taken on 11,000 customers since attacking the pre-paid market in mid-November in a joint marketing campaign with Sky Television.

In common with much larger pre-paid rival The Warehouse, Comunica operates on Telecom's 025 network, has its own billing system and will also use a switch installed by Telemedia.

However, Comunica's marketing officer, Mark Crouch, said the company differed from The Warehouse.

Although it specialised in pre-paid, it expected to exploit the value-added opportunities in the post-paid market.

Mr Crouch said that Comunica is already effectively in post-paid. While all its customers are pre-paid now, most settle their pre-paid bill later through their Sky account.

It is also sidestepping handset subsidies associated with pre-paid sales by offering refurbished second-hand handsets.