New Zealand is to get a third mobile operator, with NZ Communications prepping service in the country’s three main urban centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The aspiring operator has already signed two deals this week; the first a national roaming agreement with Vodafone, enabling future customers to get coverage in areas its mobile network doesn’t cover. The second deal saw NZ Communications buy 5 MHz of paired mobile radio spectrum from existing mobile operator Telecom. The agreement covers two blocks in the 850MHz band. Last week, the New Zealand Government offered Telecom and Vodafone the right to renew their 800MHz and 900MHz spectrum holdings for another twenty years – due to expire between 2011 and 2012 – on the condition they offered at least 5MHz of spectrum to a new mobile operator.
The emergence of NZ Communications follows attempts by the government to break up the dominance of Vodafone and Telecom. According to Wireless Intelligence, Vodafone New Zealand has a 52.7 percent market share of a total mobile subscription base of 4.3 million. Market penetration is an oversaturated 103.8 percent.