2degrees appoints new Chairman, adds global talent to its board

The 2degrees board has appointed Brad Horwitz as its new Chairman, and international wireless pioneer, John Stanton as a new director.

Mr Horwitz replaces Stewart Sherriff as chairman, who has stepped down from the Board following his recent appointment as CEO.

As co-founder, President and CEO of Trilogy International Partners (2degrees' majority shareholder), Mr Horwitz has more than 30 years international mobile experience. (biography follows)

Mr Horwitz, a 2degrees director for the past four years, says he is delighted to take the helm of the 2degrees board and also welcome new director, fellow Trilogy International Partners co-founder John Stanton.

Mr Stanton has co-founded three, top 10 wireless operators in the US in the last 25 years. He helped found McCaw Cellular Communications (sold to AT&T in 1994), was the founder of Western Wireless Corporation (sold to Alltel in 2005), which created Voicestream (sold to Deutsche Telecom, now T-Mobile in 2001), and co-founded, along with Mr Horwitz, Western Wireless International, which operated mobile networks in 12 countries around the world. (biography follows)

Mr Horwitz says he has worked John Stanton and Stewart Sherriff in every continent other than Antarctica over the past 18 years, so focusing that experience on 2degrees will bring a global perspective to the local management team.

"John, Stewart and I regard 2degrees as one of the most exciting wireless opportunities we've ever seen. The Trilogy partnership focuses on early stage wireless growth opportunities and sees competition in New Zealand as just that ¿ early stage, with real upside for customers," says Mr Horwitz.

"We've worked closely with our partner shareholders to build a business that has already made a difference. Our recent appointments create a strong local and international bench for the next stage in the company's growth."

Last month it was announced that Mavis Mullins had also been appointed to the 2degrees board, replacing Bill Osborne.

Brad Horwitz - Biography

Brad Horwitz is President and CEO of Trilogy International Partners which he founded in partnership with John Stanton in 2006 following the sale of Western Wireless Corporation to Alltel. Prior to forming Trilogy, Mr Horwitz served as president of Western Wireless International, having founded the company in 1995 and expanding into 11 international markets prior to the time of the Alltel transaction. In addition, he also served as an executive vice president of Western Wireless Corporation, which created both the domestic and international assets of Western Wireless as well as Voicestream (sold to Deutsche Telecom and now known as T-Mobile).

From 1992 to 1995, Mr Horwitz was a founder and Chief Operating Officer of SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited (Hong Kong) while under secondment from AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. (then McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc.). From 1983 through 1995, Mr Horwitz worked in various management capacities for McCaw Cellular including serving as Vice President of International Operations.

John Stanton - Biography

John Stanton is a founding member of Trilogy Partnership. John is a wireless industry pioneer, co-founding three, top 10 wireless operators in the United States in the last 25 years. His involvement in the wireless industry began in 1982 when John helped found McCaw Cellular Communications, where he served as Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman. By 1989, McCaw had grown to be the largest wireless operator in the US and in 1994 was sold to form what is now AT&T Wireless.

Beginning in 1989, John and his partners formed a number of private entities that in 1994 were combined to form Western Wireless Corporation, where he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1989 to 2005. In addition to the company's US operations, Western Wireless also operated wireless networks in eleven foreign countries in Europe, Africa, and South America. Western Wireless was the nation's seventh largest independent wireless operator when it was acquired by Alltel Corporation in August 2005 in a transaction valued at $6.2B.

VoiceStream Wireless, which was formed as a subsidiary of Western Wireless in 1995, was John's third wireless endeavor. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company from 1995-2001. VoiceStream spun off as a public company in May of 1999 and was sold to Deutsche Telecom for $50.7B in 2001. Deutsche Telecom subsequently changed the name to T-Mobile USA. John served as Chairman and CEO of T-Mobile USA from 2001-2003.

In 2006, John and several colleagues formed Trilogy Partnership, a private equity fund that invests in exciting, early stage growth opportunities in the wireless ecosystem, and Trilogy International Partners, a wireless operator in Central and South America and New Zealand.

John served as Chairman of national wireless associations three times, once each during the 1980's representing McCaw, the 1990's representing Western Wireless and 2000-2001 representing VoiceStream/T-Mobile. Mr Stanton chairs the boards of directors of Clearwire Corporation and Columbia Sportswear, Inc., each of which is publicly traded. Mr Stanton has a bachelor's degree in political science from Whitman College and an MBA from Harvard University.