Goldman Sachs analyst Tristan Joll has given 2degrees a tip of his hat following yesterday's announcement that it had 580,112 active customers.
"My guess beforehand was 500,000, so I thought the number was pretty impressive," Mr Joll said.
"It tallies well with successful marketing campaign, and the disruption you are seeing in porting data and incumbent reporting." (Porting figures are the number of customers who have moved a Telecom or Vodafone number to 2degrees.)
"It's hard to say anything much more meaningful without arpu [average reveune per user per month] or revenue, but the commitment to increasing retail presence alongside the network reflects a sensible growth strategy."
At yesterday's announcement, 2degrees chief executive Eric Hertz said the company had opened 10 branded retail stores, with 40 due to be open by Christmas.
The company has so far spent around $300 million on its network. It recently announced a $100 capital injection (most in the form of vendor financing from its primary network infrastructure provider, China's Huawei). The money will be used for network and retail expansion.
The privately-held 2degrees is majority owned by US invesment company Trilogy International Partners.
Its most recent Companies Office filing was in June 2010, in which it stated it had lost $52 million during the nine months to December 31, 2009.
2degrees launched in August 2009.
Chris Keall
Wed, 23 Mar 2011
Wed, 23 Mar 2011
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2degrees gets tip of the hat from Goldman Sachs
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