In September Vodafone New Zealand announced that it would be discontinuing its email service.

In doing so, the company sought to connect customers who need a hand setting a new account to the email experts, Gmail and Outlook.

Email platforms affected by this change include addresses ending in vodafone.co.nz, vodafone.net.nz, ihug.co.nz, wave.co.nz, quik.co.nz, pcconnect.co.nz, paradise.net.nz, clear.net.nz, and es.co.nz

Today the company is urging its customers to take advantage of a free auto-forwarding service for their old Vodafone email accounts before they close for good at the end of this month.

Fail to do so and any emails sent to your old Vodafone email address will be like posting mail to an address that doesn't exist and will ultimately be returned to sender.

Consumer Director at Vodafone, Matt Williams says at the end of the day, closing the company's email service was a necessary decision.

“Since we launched our email service in the 1990's, email and technology have grown up a lot and our customers have told us their email service is no longer delivering the sort of experience our customers need today. That's simply not good enough for us here at Vodafone,” says Williams.

“Since our announcement more than 110,000 Vodafone email customers have successfully set up a new account, and used the free auto-forwarding service, so all their emails can be sent to their alternative address.

Williams says a lot of Vodafone email customers are already using alternative web-based email services with greater functionality (like Gmail and Outlook), making email easy, secure and efficient.

Vodafone's email service simply couldn't compete with the benefits of the online giants, including increased storage space, less spam, faster search features and access to an ever-growing list of additional services.

“We did not make the decision to shut down the aging email service lightly, and we would like to thank all those customers who have worked with us to make the change,” says Williams.

“We're now keen to make sure that customers leave themselves enough time to complete the process, so we can provide as much support as they require.

Vodafone NZ has provided a checklist of what existing email customers need to do over the next fortnight, which includes:

1. If you haven't already got an alternative email address, set up a new, up-to-date email account right away (Vodafone is working with Google and Microsoft to make this process easier, details are in the email from Vodafone) sending your new details to family, friends and other contacts including Vodafone.
2. Follow the link provided in the email from Vodafone to set up a free auto forward to your new email address if you'd like this free service. (Please double check this new email address is set up and the details are correct before sending).
3. Move contacts and any emails you want to keep across to your new account before 30 November.