Telstra Signs MVNO Deal in New Zealand

New Zealand Telecom and TelstraClear, the local arm of Australia's Telstra Corp. have jointly announced the signing of a commercial agreement that will allow TelstraClear to provide a new nationwide mobile service in New Zealand.

The agreement was signed this morning by Telecom acting CEO Simon Moutter and TelstraClear Chief Executive Dr Allan Freeth.

Dr Freeth says the agreement is great for customers, enabling choice without the need to build a new mobile network.

"Our customers can look forward to a unique TelstraClear service, with new TelstraClear branded handsets, bundles and pricing plans that are different to those offered by other players today," says Dr Freeth.

TelstraClear will launch its new mobile service later this year, with details provided closer to the time. It is not immediatly clear if the deal involves Telecom's CDMA network, or will jump directly onto the WCDMA overlay that Telecom is deploying.

TelstraClear had a reseller agreement with Vodafone, but the deal seemed to breakdown acriminoniously recently.

Posted to the site on 13th August 2007