KEY POINTS:
Phone company customers will find breaking up easier to do, as the sector introduces industry rules around switching telcos in an effort to improve competition.
Set up by industry body the Telecommunications Carriers' Forum (TCF), the Customer Transfer Code will ensure customers continue to receive uninterrupted service when changing phone and internet providers.
Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (Tuanz) head Ernie Newman said that in three industries - telecommunications, banking and electricity - people had been reluctant to switch service suppliers because the risk of disruption had outweighed potential benefits.
"There has to be a substantial benefit to make it worthwhile to transfer, which dampens the benefits of competition," he said.
As competition "slowly and painfully" came into the market, customers were more likely to change telecommunication providers, particularly for internet services.
However, there had been recurring problems in the industry when customers had changed phone companies.
Newman said the customer was often caught in the middle as the "gaining" service provider blamed the "losing" provider for hold-ups.
"I can travel around the world and go with five different airlines, who are all competitors ... who will move my baggage from one to the other behind the scenes and it'll be there at the other end. Now, that's the kind of standard that we want to see in telecommunications," he said.
"If the code is properly implemented by everyone it should be just as easy to change your telephone supplier as it is with any other service."
The Customer Transfer Code, to be introduced in July, sets standards, protocols and processes that work in the background to help customers move seamlessly between phone companies.
Head of wholesale at CallPlus Graham Walmsley described it as industry "housekeeping" to ensure telcos behave responsibly when switching customers. As increased competition made switching more common among customers, Walmsley said the code was a prudent step to tidy up processes in the telecommunications sector.
But Newman said that if it "all turns to mush" telecommunications consumers would be able to use a new complaints system.
An independent dispute resolution service run by the TCF will handle customer complaints when a promised service has not been delivered, including problems switching phone companies, billing, quality of service and advertised broadband speeds not being delivered, he said.
Former Communications Minister Paul Swain threatened telcos in 2004 with a complaints structure similar to the banking and electricity sector, but Tuanz supported the industry in developing its own scheme.
Together with number portability, which last month saw more than 2000 people switch phone companies and take their number with them, the industry initiatives are focussed on improving "consumer experience".
Telecom's general manager of customer service Trish Keith said: "We expect these codes to help minimise the potential for inconvenience and delay - and encourage a high standard of service across all providers in the industry."
