New Zealand’s Commerce Commission opened a consultation seeking input on ways to make it easier for consumers to compare the various contracts, costs and coverage offered by competing mobile and broadband providers to ensure they get the best deal.

Telecommunications Commissioner Tristan Gilbertson stated the difficulty of comparing plans and providers is a major factor behind customer dissatisfaction and complaints.

“Competition between different technologies and providers is delivering more choice than ever, but it’s not always easy to compare different plans and providers on a like-for-like basis”.

The commission called for disclosure of key information including the average monthly cost of services; total costs of a contract; and comparable coverage information.

It also wants providers to produce standardised contract summaries to make comparing services easier and align methods of calculating and reporting customer numbers.

“We don’t want consumers signing up for one provider’s offer because it wasn’t easy for them to compare it with other offers that might have been better for them,” Gilbertson said.

The consultation is part of a wider push to improve the quality of telecoms retail services. Submissions are due 7 December.