2degrees

It has spent over NZ$550 million building its mobile network, which as of 2016[update] covers Ashburton, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Hastings, Invercargill, Levin, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Palmerston North, Queenstown, Rotorua, Taupō, Tauranga, Timaru, Wanganui, Wellington and Whangārei.[4] 2degrees is owned by 2degrees (NZ) Holdings Pty Limited, with Macquarie Asset Management and Aware Super as its ultimate shareholders.It now has an infrastructure sharing agreement with One NZ on 200 remote towers (using Multi Operator Radio Access Network (MoRAN) technology).Each site is required to meet government targets of providing fast wireless broadband, connectivity to a tourist location, and/or coverage to rural state highways.[17] These foreign customers can place calls using 2degrees cell sites in cities, towns and localities in New Zealand described as broadband zones by 2degrees.Rangiaho Everton claimed that the auction breached the Treaty of Waitangi because she believed radio spectrum is taonga and the government has no right to sell it.It was not until Labour won the 1999 election that Māori were allocated one of the four 2 GHz 3G spectrum licences at a "discounted price" - it was given, and they were paid $5 million to "develop" it.[20][27] In mid-2009, 2degrees was owned by Trilogy International Partners, a US venture capital firm specializing in mobile networks (58.66%),[28] Communication Venture Partners, a London-based company that invests in telecommunications and related software businesses (27.13%), Te Huarahi Tika Trust (10.17%)[29] and KLR Hong Kong (0.50%).[27] In July 2009, General Enterprise Management Services, a Hong Kong-based private equity fund,[30] sold its 25.76 percent shares to Trilogy.[23] On 30 March 2013, 2degrees CEO Eric Hertz and his wife Kathy were killed when their twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, which was flying from Auckland to Timaru, ditched in the sea near Raglan at about 12:30pm after reporting engine failure.[37] The Commerce Commission's Telecommunications Monitoring Report from December 2018, shows 2degrees mobile market share at 21%, with Vodafone at 41% and Spark at 32%.[citation needed] On 14 April 2020, the company announced that they were to cut the workforce by 10% (i.e. 120 staff), stop recruitment, and reduce spending on capital projects in response to declining turnover caused by the coronavirus pandemic.[40] 2degrees has 59 retail stores,[41] including fifteen throughout Auckland, one in Wellington City, one in Paraparaumu, four in Hamilton, two in Tauranga, two in Christchurch and one in Dunedin.[42] 2degrees halved the prevalent pricing for prepay mobile in the New Zealand market, with voice calls costing 44 cents.2degrees has run commercials featuring Rhys Darby, a comedian known for making jokes and sketches about New Zealand life.