About us

Our customers are at the heart of what we do. That's why more than 2 million New Zealanders choose us to keep them confidently connected to the things and people that matter

History of Vodafone

We’ve been making history since 1983. Read about the big Vodafone moments between then and now

1983 - Birth of Vodafone

Vodafone Group is born in the UK. The group’s current Chief Executive Officer is Vittorio Colao.

1985 - Auld Lang Syne

A few minutes after midnight on New Year’s Eve, Vodafone makes the UK’s first-ever mobile call – from London to Newbury.

1992 - Roam roam roaming

The world’s first international roaming agreement is signed between Vodafone and Telecom Finland.

1998 - Vodafone arrives in NZ

Vodafone Group PLC purchases Bellsouth New Zealand and Vodafone New Zealand is born. At the time of switchover, Bellsouth had 138,000 customers.

1998 - Our first storefront

New Zealand’s first Vodafone retail store opens for business. New phone anyone?

1999 - Hello TXT!

Vodafone launches TXT messaging in New Zealand. What was your first TXT?

1999 - Hooray for Prepay

Vodafone launches New Zealand’s first Prepay mobile service. Now everyone can afford to use a mobile phone.

2000 - Half a million Kiwis

Our Kiwi customer count hits 500,000!

2001 - Make that a million

And now we’ve got one million Kiwis connected to our mobiles. That’s a 100% increase in a single year.

2002 - A world of difference ›

We make a long standing commitment to the health and wellbeing of young New Zealanders by setting up the Vodafone NZ Foundation.

2002 - Go the Vodafone Warriors!

The Vodafone Warriors make their first ever grand final and Stacey Jones puts New Zealand in front with a scorching try in the 46th minute.

2005 - Then there were two

Two million Kiwis are connected to Vodafone.

2005 - 3G arrives

Vodafone launches NZ’s first 3G network and the possibilities of mobile expand once again.

2006 - More than mobile

Vodafone goes beyond mobile with the purchase of ihug. The door is open for customers to choose us for home phone & broadband as well as mobile.

2007 - All Blacks in your phone

A world first - we broadcast a live All Blacks game direct to mobile.

2008 - Homegrown in Wellington

The first-ever Vodafone Homegrown festival happens in Wellington. Did you go?

2008 - iLove iPhone

Vodafone is the first to offer the iPhone in New Zealand, continuing Kiwis’ affair with technology beginning with i...

2009 - Free MY SKY HDi

SKY customers who choose Vodafone for their landline and broadband get MY SKI HDi for no extra cost. What a deal!

2009 - Sticking with our Warriors

We extend our sponsorship of the Vodafone Warriors for another four years - that’s 16 years of partnership.

2010 - A bigger retail footprint

Vodafone purchases First Mobile and suddenly we’ve got more than 800 retail outlets.

2010 - 4G for you

We were the first to demonstrate LTE (4G) services.

2010 - Beating the TXT bullies

We say no to TXT bullying by giving our customers Blacklist - the power to decide who can send them TXT and PXT messages.

2010 - My Vodafone

We made it even easier to be in control of your account by launching the My Vodafone iOS App.

2011 - Counting customers

Vodafone’s NZ customer count hits 2.5 million.

2011 - Doing it for rural NZ

Vodafone enters a joint venture with Telecom to roll out the government’s rural broadband initiative, which aims to bring broadband to rural New Zealanders.

2011 - Undersea initiative

We sign up with Pacific Fibre, a start-up working on building a new undersea cable system to link NZ to the rest of the world.

2011 - Vodafone Canterbury Fund

Vodafone and the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal Trust launch the Vodafone Canterbury Fund – a $4m fund to rebuild communities and places following the devastating earthquakes.

2011 - Keeping kids safe

We introduce a new app, Vodafone Guardian, to help parents keep their kids safe from unwanted calls, TXTs and inappropriate use of the internet while using their smartphones.

2011 - My Vodafone for Android

Android smartphone users get their own version of the My Vodafone App.

2012 - TXT & drive no more

Vodafone DriveSafe launches - a free service to help Kiwis stop TXTing while driving.

2012 - Data Angel

We give our customers complete control over their data usage and spend with Data Angel, a world first service to stop data bill-shock. In 2013, we renamed this service Flexi Data.

2012 - Vodafone & TelstraClear

Vodafone announces plans to acquire TelstraClear in New Zealand, in a bid to bring greater choice and competition to New Zealand consumers and businesses.