Telecom breached ad standards: ASA

Telecom has been slapped on the hand by the Advertising Standards Authority over claims made in two of its brochures.

Complaints were lodged by market newcomer 2degrees, which specialises in the prepaid market.

Telecom's in-store brochures stated that the network's mobile 'One Second Billing' policy made its pre-paid service cheaper than both 2degrees and Vodafone.

2degrees gave the grounds for its complaint that Telecom's brochures said it "bills on a per second basis for prepaid calls when, as the small print seeks to makes [sic] clear, it only bills by the second after the first minute".

It also complained that Telecom's brochures implied "prepaid calls on 2degrees' network cost more than similar calls on the Telecom One Rate Prepaid plan."

Telecom stated that consumers may pay "a lot more for calls" on other networks.

The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld the complaint in part.