2degrees makes it 1,000,000 in three years

New Zealand’s newest mobile provider has continued its rapid growth, winning the support of more than a million Kiwi consumers and businesses after just three years in the market.

2degrees Chief Executive Eric Hertz says the company now has more than 1,000,000 customers, a third of which have brought their 021 or 027 number to the network. In total, that’s 21% of the mobile device market.

“More than a million New Zealanders have made it clear they wanted choice and competition in the market. Kiwis have become increasingly attached to their mobile phone and are savvy when it comes to value, service and easy to understand products,” says Mr Hertz.

“Seeing three players compete to win – and keep – customers is a fantastic outcome for all mobile users. Competition is bringing down prices and increasing the range of devices available.”

2degrees launched nationwide 2G services to the prepay market in August 2009, acquiring 206,000 customers within six months. By March 2011, with a 3G network and post-pay service in place it had grown to over 580,000.

Passing the one million customer mark, the company now serves the business market, is one of the approved providers to government, operates with 35 stores across New Zealand and has more than 700 staff.

Mr Hertz says the pace of 2degrees growth is rapid, a little faster than expected - and there’s more to come.

“We started by halving the price of prepay voice and text, then drove value with Carryover minutes that last up to a year. More recently, we launched Shared Data, so customers get to use what they’ve paid for across multiple devices.”

“We’ve got more of this ‘simple innovation’ up our sleeve. It’s all about getting people to feel more comfortable about using mobile,” says Mr Hertz.

“New Zealand remains an attractive market for a mobile innovator. There are still great opportunities to deliver better value for New Zealanders.”

At a national level, mobile competition is already making a difference. Last year, 2degrees commissioned research with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise which showed increased mobile competition had driven $2.24 billion of value to the New Zealand economy. Maintaining that competition is expected to drive a further $7.8 billion by 2021.