Telecom's Gen-i services division has signed what it's calling the country's largest mobile deal, covering, covering 5500 voice and data connections at Fletcher Building.

A Gen-i insider said the company believed the next largest account was Fonterra, whose mobile contract covers 3500 staff (and not such a good news story for Telecom after the dairy giant put a hold on its XT upgrade after the new network's teething troubles; Gen-i told NBR today that Fonterrra's transition from Vodafone 3G to XT was reanimated last year and is now "nearly complete").

NBR understands the breakdown of mobile connections at Fletcher Building is currently around 2000 Vodafone; 1500 on Telecom's older CDMA network and 2000 on XT.

All staff will be moved to XT over the next six months.

Gen-i already has a broader telecommunications contract with Fletcher Building, plus a five-year, $20 million mobile, voice and data deal with Australia's Crane Group (Fletcher’s latest acquisition) back in 2009). The company would not put a value on the new mobile deal.

Fletcher Building CIO Paul Knight said keeping costs down, especially in the wake of the Christchurch quake, was a key element of the competitive tender.