Māori Affairs Minister, Dr Pita Sharples, took the first call on the Huawei Android smartphone from Te Huarahi Tika Trust Chair Daphne Luke this afternoon.

2degrees worked closely with handset manufacturer, Huawei, to translate all of the menus in its IDEOS X3 smartphone to Te Reo Māori.

2degrees Director and Hautaki Trust Board member Bill Osborne says making Te Reo Māori available in today’s mobile technology was a vision that the Hautaki Trust had when it helped found the company.

“Through Hautaki Trust, our primary objective was to engage Māori in the telecommunications industry,” adds Mr Osborne. “A further aim was to ensure that the Māori culture and language were embraced by modern information and communications technology, and the IDEOS X3 smartphone with Te Reo menu is testimony to the commitment to this goal by 2degrees and Māori.”

Mr Osborne says that these new handsets and a range of other initiatives demonstrate the value of the Māori investment in 2degrees, which has already delivered significant benefit to the New Zealand economy.

A recently released report by Venture Consulting showed $2.24 billion of benefits to the economy have already flown from the creation of 2degrees.

The Te Reo IDEOS X3 will be available from 2degrees retail stores before Christmas.

In October, 2degrees launched the Te Reo Huawei G6600 phone for $99 – a lower price option that gives more customers access to Te Reo Māori phones.

For more information about 2degrees products and plans, visit www.2degreesmobile.co.nz

Announced by Māori Affairs Minister, Hon. Dr Pita Sharples, the three-stage programme involves career advice, paid scholarships and careers for Māori.

Hei Rere Mai is:

· Career advice: Māori students in their last years of high school study will be provided with career advice by Accelerating Aotearoa, a specialist charitable trust that focuses on decile one and two schools in the Auckland region.

· Scholarships: A scholarship fund of $50,000 per annum will be made available to Māori studying towards ICT qualifications at Auckland University. These are open to Māori from across the country and can include funding towards the costs faced by students who must relocate to Auckland.

· Jobs with a future: 2degrees will recruit high-school leavers into its Customer Care team, providing a structured career programme whereby they study towards ICT qualifications and can progress into roles in the company’s IT and Networks divisions.

2degrees Director and Hautaki Trust Board member Bill Osborne says the programme delivers on the kaupapa the Trust envisaged when it first acquired radio spectrum more than a decade ago.

“For Māori, the investment in 2degrees is about more than money. The Trust is thrilled with the company’s progress so far and looks forward to future dividends. In the meantime, Hei Rere Mai provides a tangible way to get Māori involved in this exciting industry and create intergenerational expertise,” says Mr Osborne.

“Via this programme, Māori have real opportunities to be part of one New Zealand’s most exciting and fast growing businesses – one that all Māori, via the Hautaki Trust, have a stake in.”

2degrees Chief Executive Eric Hertz says the programme will help 2degrees nurture and create talent at a time when skilled ICT workers are hard to find.

“2degrees was built on the hard work of Māori and the 40 different nationalities employed in the company today. By inspiring young Māori to work in our industry, then providing them with opportunities to learn – on the job or at university – we’re creating tomorrow’s knowledge workers,” says  Mr Hertz.

“Hei Rere Mai will see career advice from Accelerating Aotearoa in 2012, with university scholarships also available for study next year. We will work with Māori media to promote job opportunities within 2degrees in coming months.”

Mr Hertz says structured careers in 2degrees will begin in Customer Care, where employees get to play their part in delivering the company’s highly awarded customer service. Once employees have shown a strong customer ethos they will have opportunities to study towards ICT qualifications on-the-job.

Employees who are customer focused, know the business and the technology will then be offered roles in the IT and Networks teams, where they will deal hands-on with the latest mobile technology and systems.

Those who win scholarships will be provided with internships at 2degrees, so they gain practical experience while studying.

Both new employees and scholarship winners will be required to assist the work of Accelerating Aotearoa – spending time in schools as role models for young Māori considering a future in the telecommunications industry.

Eric Hertz, 2degrees CEO, says he is delighted to be partnering with one of New Zealand’s largest retailers and most recognized brands for value.

“There is great synergy between 2degrees and The Warehouse, with both committed to offering our customers the best value for money.  This partnership is about delivering better value to every New Zealander.  We’re looking forward to a long-term relationship with The Warehouse, like we enjoy with our other partners.”

From today, The Warehouse customers can purchase 2degrees Prepay – with SIMs, top ups, and mobile broadband.  A range of 14 phones will also be available, including the latest smartphones.

The Warehouse CEO, Mark Powell, says he is excited about 2degrees being available in The Warehouse and agrees there is great alignment between the two companies in terms of their core values.

“We are both dedicated to giving our customers the lowest possible prices.  We have some fantastic launch deals coming up across a wide range of products, so there is something for everyone.  The Warehouse Group has had a relationship with 2degrees since it launched in 2009 through our Warehouse Stationery stores – and now we’re thrilled to be welcoming such an extensive range of 2degrees products to The Warehouse stores themselves.”

As of March 2011, 2degrees had 580,000 customers, and recently announced that 200,000 of its customers have ported their whole number – even the 021 and 027 bit – to the two-year-old network. For more information, visit www.2degreesmobile.co.nz.

Eric Hertz, 2degrees CEO, says it is clear that a mobile number no longer belongs to the network, it belongs to the customer.

“We understand that a customer’s mobile number is part of their identity, and it should be portable, so they can take it with them, whoever they choose as their mobile provider.  The 200,000th customer to port their number to 2degrees is particularly significant given the launch of 2degrees Business in July, because the last thing a business wants to do is change their number and risk losing contact with valuable customers.”

It’s easy and quick for customers to port their number to 2degrees.  It can be done online and typically takes only a few hours.

More information about the number porting process is available at www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/transfer-details or by calling 0800 022 022.

Available for the first time in the New Zealand mobile market, the LG Optimus Black’s NOVA display is designed to be the brightest, clearest and most readable among mobile screens, providing users with an easier and more natural experience when browsing the web, reading emails, or writing documents.

The LG Optimus Black also makes a strong visual statement, with an ultra slim 9.2 mm design that weighs only 109g and offers sleek lines and smooth edges that improve handheld grip.

The NOVA display on the LG Optimus Black also radically reduces power consumption compared to a conventional LCD, meaning users will have enough power for their daily needs, even at maximum brightness settings.

“Following our launch of New Zealand’s first smartphone with a dual core processor, we are excited to introduce the world’s slimmest smartphone,” said 2degrees Chief Marketing Officer Larrie Moore.  “With breakthrough display technology, the LG Optimus Black offers a supreme user experience and takes smartphones to a new level.”

Initially available only from 2degrees, the Optimus Black also offers the following key features:
-    5MP camera, with 720p HD video capture capability and world’s first 2MP front-facing camera
-    world’s first Wi-Fi Direct™ for quick and high-quality data transfer between mobile devices
-    provides access to over 100,000 fun and functional applications on the Android Market
-    1GHz processor
-    upgradeable to Android 2.3

Retailing at a very reasonable $749 RRP, the LG Optimus Black is available now at 2degrees retail stores around New Zealand.  It can also be purchased online through www.2degreesmobile.co.nz

The 2degrees network in the Canterbury region continues to operate well following yesterday’s aftershocks and service has now been fully restored.

Generators have been deployed and all sites that were down this morning due to mains power loss have now been restored.

Our thoughts remain with the people of Canterbury.

The 2degrees network in the Canterbury region continues to operate well following yesterday’s aftershocks.

Due to widespread mains power loss, three sites are currently out of service, affecting coverage in some areas.  Yesterday, these sites switched seamlessly to battery power but those batteries have been run down over night.  We are working to restore these sites by deploying generators, and should have service fully restored early this afternoon.

Our thoughts remain with the people of Canterbury.

The 2degrees network continued to operate after today’s big aftershocks.

No sites are out of service.

The 2degrees network in Canterbury experienced some minor congestion for a short period of time after each aftershock.

Our thoughts are with the people of Canterbury.

Chief Marketing Officer Larrie Moore says, Dual-Core technology enables customers to enjoy twice the power of a regular handset because it’s specifically designed to process high definition photos and video as well as multi-tasking.

“Exclusive to 2degrees, the LG Optimus 2X is now the fastest smartphone you will find on the New Zealand market. And, at $999 (RRP), it’s easily the best value.”

With its 1GHz Dual-Core processor, the LG Optimus 2X with Google is upgradeable to Android 2.3 by the end of October - representing the next evolution in Android technology.

“This device reinforces 2degrees’ commitment to offering New Zealanders uncompromised performance within its handset range - selected especially for those customers who seek the highest spec experience,” Mr Moore said.

Noted for its bright, clear TFT LCD screen technology, the LG Optimus 2X offers outstanding HD video capture and easily manages heavy gaming graphics on an impressive 4in display.

Key features of the LG Optimus 2X include:
-    Tegra 2 Dual-Core 1GHz processor and ULP GeForce GPU
-    Android 2.2, upgradable to 2.3 Gingerbread
-    8GB on board memory, with MicroSD (up to 32GB)
-    HSDPA 7.2Mbps and HSUPA 5.7Mbps
-    An 8 megapixel camera with 1080p full HD video recording and HDMI-Outport
-    Slick, sturdy, compact handset, in a black finish

The LG Optimus 2X will be available through all 2degrees retail stores today and through selected outlets around New Zealand in the coming weeks. It can also be purchased online at www.2degreesmobile.co.nz

We have dropped our trans-Tasman data roaming rates for customers travelling to Australia to at least 50% of competitors’ rates. 2degrees pre-pay and pay monthly customers now pay the reduced casual user rate of $2.50 per MB – the best available casual data rate in New Zealand.

2degrees has also dropped its trans-Tasman calling costs to 44c a minute, so pre-pay and pay monthly customers will now be able to phone home from Australia at the same rate as a standard national 2degrees prepay call.

2degrees has been able to negotiate a better roaming agreement, and is immediately passing the savings on to its customers.

“Roaming in Australia is becoming increasingly important to our customers, including local businesses,” says 2degrees Chief Marketing Officer Larrie Moore. “This new roaming agreement lets us offer New Zealanders the best casual data rate and the same low pricing for calls in Australia that our customers enjoy at home. It’s our first step towards making roaming simple and reducing the cost for New Zealanders travelling abroad.”

To offer an even better rate, 2degrees has also introduced the country’s first international data roaming bundles, which gives consumers the ability to pre-purchase bundles of data to use the internet while abroad. The data roaming bundles, which start from $20 for 10MB of data and bring data roaming rates as low as $1 per MB, can be used seamlessly across Australia, the UK and the United States for 30 days.

“If a customer likes to check their email or surf the net regularly while away, they’d be better off buying a bundle of data,” Moore added. “Pre-purchasing a bundle of data before they leave or on arrival means they won’t pay more than they bargained for.”

As part of a move to address the price of roaming, 2degrees has also reduced data roaming rates to $2.50 per MB for the UK and USA - which, combined with Australia, make up almost 60% of New Zealanders’ international travel.

2degrees currently covers 97% of the destinations Kiwis travel to work and play, and in the coming months will continue to expand its price leading position to the most popular destinations.

Short-term New Zealand-resident traveller departures - Year Ended December 2010 (Stats NZ)