Telecommunications company 2degrees has been fined $325,000 by the Auckland District Court after admitting to misleading advertising practices regarding its “free” Aussie business roaming service. The penalty follows five breaches of New Zealand’s Fair Trading Act, with the charges brought by the Commerce Commission.
Between 2020 and 2023, 2degrees ran a marketing campaign that gave the impression that customers on mobile business plans could roam in Australia throughout the year “free” or came “at no extra cost”.
2degrees prominently featured statements such as “Aussie business roaming at no extra cost” and “the other guys charge for Aussie business roaming; we don’t” in its advertising. However, customers were charged $7 to $8 per day for roaming once they exceeded a 90-day annual limit.
“Businesses need to consider the overall impression of headline claims. Key information about claims they’re making needs to be easy to find and not buried in the fine print,” Commerce Commission Deputy Chair Anne Callinan said.
In numerous cases, 2degrees failed to include the 90-day limit in its advertising, and when it was mentioned, the disclosure was insufficiently clear to counteract the misleading impression created by the headline claims.
A spokesperson for 2degrees stated that the company accepts the court’s ruling and has fully collaborated with the Commerce Commission throughout the process.
“It was certainly not our intention to mislead business customers, and we remain proud of the impact of our Free Aussie Business Roaming benefit, which has saved our business customers close to $6 million in roaming charges since we launched the product in 2020,” the spokesperson said.
2degrees has also implemented measures to address the misleading claims and compensate affected customers. These actions include removing the 90-day restriction on free business roaming in Australia, issuing refunds to current and former customers who were charged for roaming beyond the 90-day limit, and revising their promotional materials to ensure clarity.