Vodafone New Zealand's customer numbers have dropped to their lowest since December 2008, as the country's biggest mobile phone operator deals with mounting competition from rival Telecom's XT network and new entrant 2degrees.
Auckland-based Vodafone had 2.434 million customers as at September 30, down from 2.458 million at the end of June, according to a quarterly statement from its London Stock Exchange-listed parent.
The phone company shed 24,000 customers in the quarter, adding to the 26,000 lost in the previous quarter.
Vodafone has been losing customers almost every quarter from a peak of 2.511 million New Zealand customers in September 2009, though it's kept the biggest market share at about 47.6 per cent.
Rival Telecom also shed customers in its latest reported period, with total mobile customers at 2.097 million at the end of June, down from 2.192 million three months earlier.