Vodafone fined for misleading advertising

The Commerce Commission believes Vodafone has learnt its lesson after it was fined nearly $1 million for misleading advertising.

The $960 thousand penalty is on top of almost $500 thousand imposed last year for six other Fair Trading Act charges.

That means the total penalties paid by Vodafone make it the highest ever on a single defendant under the FTA.

Commission Competition Branch Manager Stuart Wallace says Vodafone's made a number of changes to ensure the same thing isn't repeated.

"Companies need to make sure that they get their marketing messages accurate. You can't rescue a misleading message by putting something in the fine print that explains it. You have to make sure that your one-line headline statements are accurate and not misleading."

Vodafone says it can't turn back the clock, but it will accept the fine for misleading advertising of its broadband network.

Marketing Director, Greg Campbell, says the company takes the FTA charges and resulting fine very seriously.

He says back in 2006 and 2008, when the offence occurred, there was a huge amount happening the world of technology, and customers were getting a handle on the benefits of being mobile.

Mr Campbell says in genuinely attempting to communicate these benefits, they got some things wrong.

Photo: NZ Herald