Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies has announced that it has signed a USD100 million contract with the New Zealand-based mobile network 2degrees to help the company upgrade its network over the next two years.

Eric Hertz, chief executive officer of 2degrees, said that the investment will ensure the company's network is ready to handle the requirement of the fourth-generation smartphones. It is learned that 2degrees already provides its customers with nationwide 2G and 3G mobile services via its own network and commercial roaming.

Hertz said that they are conscious that they need to build networks that deliver on tomorrow's speed and capacity demands, so being able to upgrade to 4G via a software activation rather than a network rebuild is especially important.

Winning the deal following a competitive process, Huawei will provide a turn-key project solution to meet 2degrees' development requirement. Arthur Zhang, Huawei New Zealand CEO, said that the fact that 2degrees has chosen Huawei as its partner for the building of phase two of its network marks a vote of confidence in Huawei's technology and its ability to build a world-class network for 2degrees' customers.