Another MVNO, Zeronet, steps into the fray, promising low pricing and no '13-month years' for customers

New Zealand has another mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), hoping to make a dent in the market: Zeronet Mobile. Although Zeronet appears to have been in existence since 2023, it only officially launched Tuesday.

An MVNO provides phone and data service to customers on a telco's physical infrastructure, by reselling network capacity.

Zeronet is competing on price, pointing to consumer dissatisfaction with current mobile pricing, in a time of rising living costs. 

The MVNO is entering the market with a $30 a calendar month plan which is unlimited data but capped at three megabits per second (Mbps). It also offers a 10 Mbps plan, and a full-speed 4G/5G option.

Zeronet buys wholesale connectivity from 2degrees. Its founder and general manager Nicholas Keegan comes from Compass Communications, where his last role was that of general manager.

Telco Compass Communications is a familiar name on the local telco scene since decades back, and the company's founder Karim Hussona is listed as one of Zeronet's directors.

Keegan said that apart from the unlimited mobile data and no minimum term, Zeronet doesn't use "13-month" years. Asked to explain what that entails, a spokesperson explained that it means some telcos pay one extra bill a year.

"OneNZ, Skinny, and Spark have all shifted their consumer pay-in-advance plans to a 4-week/28-day billing cycles. This change effectively means customers are being billed 13 times per year," the spokesperson said.

Although slow to take off, the New Zealand MVNO market now has several operators. 

2degrees hosts Warehouse Mobile, Slingshot, Nova Energy Mobile, and Orcon.

One NZ has Rocket Mobile, Mighty Mobile and Kogan Mobile.

Spark meanwhile is behind Mercury and Contact Energy's MVNO offerings, and the telco's sub-brand Skinny.