KEY POINTS:
An Australian telco is set to enter the New Zealand mobile market, signing a deal with Vodafone to use its mobile network.
Australian telco M2 Telecommunications is expected to make an announcement in the next few days about a wholesale deal with Vodafone.
Vodafone has already signed up
New Zealand phone and internet companies Compass and Orcon.
ASX-listed M2 has experience as a mobile wholesaler, using Optus' 3G network to offer cellphone services to its Australian customers.
"We see the Vodafone play as the best play in the market," said M2's head of strategy, Ryan Banting.
M2, which markets solely to the small and medium enterprise market (SME), expects to launch a mobile service to New Zealand customers in October.
M2 aimed eventually to take over managing Vodafone's relationship with other wholesale customers such as Compass and Orcon, drawing on its experience with Australian telco Optus, said Banting.
Since May last year, M2 has managed wholesale access to Optus' Australian 3G mobile network.
Banting said that in the three months before signing up M2, Optus had received 60 requests for wholesale mobile services.
Since then M2 has added more than 10 new wholesale customers to the six Optus has signed up in the previous six years.
"We'd like to think we could provide the same experience to Vodafone," said Banting.
He said M2's expertise in managing Optus' wholesale customers could translate into cost savings for Vodafone.
M2 has been increasingly acquisitive in Australia, buying three smaller telcos - Wholesale Communications Group, Tenex Telecommunications and Orion Telecommunications - in the last two months.
The acquisitions take M2's revenue to between A$95 million ($104 million) and A$100 million - similar in size to CallPlus in New Zealand.
Banting didn't rule out acquiring New Zealand competitors serving the small to medium business sector.
Currently the company has no permanent base here, using dedicated dealerships in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington to sell toll calling packages with billing managed from its Melbourne base.
The company expects to begin offering data services, such as broadband to New Zealand, within six months.
"Our eventual aim is to be a one stop shop for SME telecommunications services," said Banting.
In Australia M2 resells fixed, mobile, broadband and voice over internet protocol (VoIP) under wholesale agreements with Telstra, Optus and VoIP company Engin.
Wholesale Deals
* Australian telco M2 is about to sign a wholesale mobile service with Vodafone.
* The Melbourne-based telco entered the New Zealand market last May, signing a wholesale deal with Telecom to sell toll calling packages.
* Within six months M2 expects to begin offering data services such as broadband.
* M2 uses dealerships and sales agents to sell its phone packages, rather than having a direct customer relationship.
* The company has not ruled out telco acquisitions in this country.
