Consumers won the war for a better deal from telecommunications providers but a fresh battle is looming.
The industry's once massive profits have been pummelled to a smouldering rubble.
Vodafone reported a $28 million loss in September, its first for 14 years.
Spark boss Simon Moutter complained before Christmas that the combined annual profit of the country's five biggest phone companies, Spark, Vodafone, Chorus, 2degrees and CallPlus, had fallen to half that of New Zealand's smallest major bank, ASB Bank.