TelstraClear to resell Vodafone network

TelstraClear has signed an agreement to resell Vodafone's 3G network, two years after a similar deal was scrapped amid acrimony between the two companies.

The new arrangement will let TelstraClear craft its own mobile plans, set its own pricing and it hopes sell the iPhone.

Vodafone terminated an agreement under which TelstraClear had resold Vodafone's mobile network in June 2007.

Relations took a dive after TelstraClear publicly blamed Vodafone for the end of Unplugged, a mobile network it had built in Tauranga into which it had invested $50 million.

TelstraClear began reselling Telecom's CDMA service two months later, but a decision by Telecom not to give TelstraClear the right to resell its new XT mobile network till 2011 pushed the telco back into the Vodafone fold.

Telecom had been unable to provide "complete and timely access" to its XT network, TelstraClear said, though business head Brenda Stonestreet would not rule out TelstraClear reselling the XT network in future.

Telecom wholesale spokesman Steve Pettigrew said he was disappointed. Telecom had offered TelstraClear a path toward selling its XT network, but the two firms were not able to agree on a date.

TelstraClear chief executive Allan Freeth said the three-year deal with Vodafone would allow it to compete aggressively in the mobile broadband market. "TelstraClear will have total control over our plans, handset range and customer base, and international roaming is assured."

It aimed to be in the market by Christmas. It hoped to be able to offer the iPhone direct to customers.

Ms Stonestreet said TelstraClear would target businesses first, then consumers, with what Dr Freeth said would be "simple, easy to understand plans".

TelstraClear had no plans to offer a pre-pay service, but would be able to serve business' complete needs, Ms Stonestreet said. It could offer mobile applications developed by parent Telstra in Australia for mobile payments, sales ordering and navigation.

Vodafone said it was pleased to welcome TelstraClear back.

Accounts filed by TelstraClear indicated it was still seeking to collect money that it believed it was owed by Vodafone under the terms of their 2007 resale deal a year after the arrangement was terminated.

But TelstraClear said both firms were "mature operators" and had moved on.

TelstraClear would continue to sell and support CDMA phones under its existing deal with Telecom for the "foreseeable future". It is believed to have signed up about 30,000 customers under that arrangement.

The CDMA network may be turned off by 2012, but Telecom and technology partner Alcatel agreed in February to explore the possibility of upgrading it. The upgrade to LTE standard would require customers to buy new handsets.

- © Fairfax NZ News