2degrees is a mobile phone provider which was launched in New Zealand on 5 August 2009 after 9 years of planning. Primarily a U.S. and British owned enterprise, 2degrees initially offered prepaid mobile services only. 2degrees has spent $250 million on building network capacity in the main city centres of New Zealand Auckland key west hotels, Wellington and Christchurch plus the tourist destination Queenstown. Initially their network will work with GSM mobiles compatible with Vodafone and in some cases, Telecom's XT network. In areas without 2degrees coverage, handsets roam on the Vodafone network, via a national roaming agreement.
2degrees was formerly known as NZ Communications and previously as Econet Wireless. Planning began in 2000 but details were not revealed until 11 May 2009 and pricing was announced a day before launch atlantic city hotels. The company provides GSM 900MHz (and, in selected areas, 1800MHz) services on its own cell network but also has a national roaming agreement with Vodafone to provide coverage in the remainder of the country.
2degrees is the only mobile provider in New Zealand with EDGE, meaning users with compatible 2G mobiles can access data services up to 4 times faster. 2degrees is planning to introduce UMTS 2100MHz 3G service with HSPA+ early in 2010 seattle hotels. The network has 410 cell sites installed and has cost approximately $250 million to develop.