Kordia buy to enhance Orcon mobile offerings

Mobile agreement with Vodafone will be accelerated

By Louis van Wyk, Auckland | Friday, 15 June 2007
Orcon Internet’s wholesale mobile services agreement with Vodafone is likely to accelerate following the company’s sale to Kordia this week, says Orcon founder Seeby Woodhouse.

“If anything the mobile agreement with Vodafone will be accelerated and won’t be reduced,” he says.
Kordia announced it is buying the Auckland-based ISP for $24.3 million on Monday, saying Orcon will be run as a completely separate entity.

Orcon plans to resell Vodafone’s mobile phone and data services under its own branding from October and being owned by Kordia gives it access to digital broadcast technology that will potentially enable it to offer mobile TV, says Woodhouse.

“Kordia has a working trial and spectrum for that in New Zealand. You may see Orcon customers have TV channels, as well as the regular services customers would get from Vodafone.”

Under its deal with Vodafone, Orcon will brand itself as the country’s third mobile phone operator, with its own-branded sim cards, phones and plans, as well as its own mobile phone number range – 020.

“Everything will be branded as Orcon. It will have nothing to do with Vodafone – we are just using the network. The public will perceive us as the third cellular operator.”