Vodafone to offer data cap ‘stop sign’

Vodafone customers will hit a 'big stop sign' when they reach their data caps, in a new system to be introduced by March that the company hopes will put an end to 'bill shock'.

Chief executive Russell Stanners told Business Day that bill shock, where customers unwittingly run up monstrous bills while surfing the internet on their smartphones, is the company's number one complaint.

A similar system was introduced in the latest Google Android operating system, Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich, which launched yesterday.

Vodafone's service will initially only work when customers are using their phones in New Zealand. Given that overseas roaming tends to be where the huge bills crop up, implementing an international solution will be the logical next step.