Thanks primarily to the BestMate plan, Vodafone was able to reverse a trend of lower customer additions. In the third quarter, Vodafone added 89,000 new customers compared just 11,000 for the quarter before, and 68,000 for the same period in 2005. The number isn't a record however, says Vodafone's external communications manager Paul Brislen.

In total, Vodafone now claims to have 2.2 million customers, but until Telecom New Zealand Ltd. reveals its results, it's not possible to work out the market share. As the New Zealand subsidiary follows a template from its U.K. head office, no financials are reported.

Brislen says On Account Annual Revenue Per User (ARPU) is holding steady thanks to increased data usage. Vodafone's ARPU is NZ$128.90 (US$88.60) for On Account customers, and NZ$23.70 for its PrePay ones.

Voice minute usage is up substantially, to 672 million in the third quarter, compared to just under 600 million in the preceding quarters.