WELLINGTON, New Zealand-Telecom New Zealand’s mobile subsidiary signed an agreement with Korea’s LG Telecom to jointly develop new CDMA 1x services. Telecom New Zealand will launch its 1x network this month, while LG has offered 1x services since April 2001.
Telecom New Zealand, which also offers TDMA service, said it has 150,000 CDMA customers-about one-tenth of its total user base-on its 10-month-old CDMA network. The CDMA users generate about one-quarter of the New Zealand operator’s traffic, it said.
LG, the smallest of Korea’s three mobile operators, has about 760,000 1x customers.
The agreement includes trading information, jointly developing new services and working together to improve operational efficiency. Potential areas of interest include data services, network deployment, sales and marketing, and handsets.
“LG has developed a wide range of entertainment services and valuable content, using developers,” said Murray Milner, Telecom New Zealand’s chief technology officer. “We’re keen to see how we can work together to provide some of these services for our customers.”
