NZ Communications Ltd and Vodafone New Zealand Ltd sign roaming
agreement



Vodafone New Zealand Ltd has signed an agreement to provide NZ
Communications with national roaming services.



The agreement will enable NZ Communications to provide nationwide mobile
services to its customers. When NZ Communications customers travel
outside the coverage of the new NZ Communications network, they will be
able to automatically roam on Vodafone's 2G GSM and GPRS network.



According to NZ Communications Chairman Bill Osborne signing the
national roaming agreement indicates the commitment of New Zealand
Communications to be a provider of mobile telephone services in New
Zealand.



"There is still much work to be done and agreement still has to be
reached on detailed implementation plans around roaming and co-location
before NZ Communications can provide services to New Zealand consumers.



"NZ Communications is targeting late next year for a start up date, but
that is very dependent on the progress made on the detailed
implementation plans."



CEO of Vodafone, Russell Stanners, says the announcement is another
example of Vodafone providing commercial wholesale solutions in the
market place.



"There has been enormous interest from all quarters in ensuring there is
a third player in the New Zealand mobile market, NZ Communications and
Vodafone have worked hard to put a commercial deal in place and we are
now finalising implementation plans to deliver the service", says
Stanners.



The service covers voice, SMS, and data and may be extended to include
3G and HSDPA at NZ Communications' request.