Vodafone Signs MVNO Deal in New Zealand

New Zealand's Orcon says that it has signed its wholesale agreement with Vodafone which will allow it to launch the country's second GSM mobile service in October this year. This agreement establishes Orcon as a true wholesale operator, meaning they will be offering an Orcon-branded set of products delivered over the existing Vodafone network infrastructure.

"We have been working toward this since the heads of agreement was signed back in August last year, and are really pleased that we are finally going to be able to bring this product to market" said Scott Bartlett, General Manager of Orcon.

"The ability to offer mobile services is an important part of our transformation into a true telecommunications alternative that Kiwis can be proud to be part of," continued Bartlett. "This agreement, along with the purchase of our VoIP soft switch and the introduction of local loop unbundling, means we are going to be able to offer New Zealanders an even better deal on their telecommunications, mobile, and of course Internet."

Orcon already serves just over 100,000 New Zealanders with a variety of internet and telecommunications services, and have made no secret of their ambitious growth plans.

"The next six to twelve months for us are going to be really exciting, with our new voice switch going live, Orcon equipment being deployed in exchanges under local loop unbundling, and Orcon mobile launching we have got a lot to look forward to. We know that New Zealanders are crying out for a true Kiwi-owned alternative to the incumbent providers" concluded Bartlett."

Posted to the site on 30th May 2007