Telecom services provider 2degrees had recently announced that it would be launching a whole bunch of add on-account services to new prepaid plans that the company has launched in August, but the wait for eager customers could be long, as has been confirmed by 2degrees head Eric Hertz, who said last week that it could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months for the contracts to be offered.

"We'll do it when we have a good product. It's a highly competitive business and these guys are doing all they can to lock people into contracts. My advice to business groups is, why would you sign a contract now when there's a new entrant in the market? Do you expect prices to go up or down in the next 12 months?” said Mr. Hertz.

Experts believe that the services' prices will go in the same direction as those of the company's prepaid costs, which, as confirmed by the Commerce Commission last month, had been slashed to "below the OECD average" for the first time, all thanks to 2degrees, which Mr. Hertx is more than happy to take credit for.

Ernie Newman, head of the Telecommunications Users Association, says that Mr. Hertz deserves to be credited. "We've always maintained that you need three market participants to produce really effective price competition and I think the evidence is there that it has taken 2degrees' explosion on to the market to bring everyone's prices down", he said.

2degrees has been in business for about 100 days now, and up until this time, the authorities have not been able to find one fault with the carrier's performance.