2degrees about to pay off for Maori

It's an investment deal former All Black Bill Osborne has been championing on behalf of Maori since 2000 and one he expects to finally start paying dividends from August.

Mobile company 2degrees is set to launch then and Maori, through the Hautaki Trust, own a 20 per cent stake in the company.

Direct dividends are on the cards once the company becomes profitable - something no Treaty settlement iwi has truly achieved yet, although Ngai Tahu has moved close with its iwi saver scheme. However, there were other ways the company wants Maori to benefit, Osborne said.

"One of the ideas we've thought about is trying to create a franchise opportunity that would allow Maori to own their own network as part of this network.

"It's an idea that's under development at the moment and we've been looking at how we might do that. We'd love to be able to find a way for them to build [communications] infrastructure. You might have an area that wants to own the towers for example, and maybe 2degrees would operate the towers and there would be a way of allocating revenue to those towers, so they'd get a return.

"There's all sorts of possibilities once we get cracking," Mr Osborne said.

Industry training and employment opportunities were also on the cards.

Primary industry - fishing, forestry, farming - hold 52 per cent of all Maori assets, however, owning a piece of 2degrees marked a significant shift in thinking. "I've fought for this for nine years because I wanted Maori to be involved in this sector of the market. It's a very important time, notwithstanding the fact that [Maori] are traditionally in assets that are land based. This is an infrastructure of the future ... I think it's really important for Maori to start moving into that sort of asset."

Involvement in the telecommunications sector goes back to 2000 when the Government was auctioning off 3G spectrum. Once the network goes live, Maori would have had to pay $14.5 million, less a discount for the spectrum rights.

However, Osborne negotiated a deal which would see 2degrees pay the fee in return for using the spectrum which is owned by the Hautaki Trust. While the auction allocation wasn't part of a Treaty settlement, specific Maori access to the spectrum was a nod to the principle of development rights.

Auckland University Maori business academic Dr Manuka Henare said he'd been watching 2degrees' development closely. "I've been wondering about the wisdom of competing against the two heavyweights Vodafone and Telecom and I'm yet to be persuaded that the New Zealand market can sustain three providers.

"But on the other hand, they've done all the sums, done the work from a business point of view. They appear to have covered the risk and found it's a risk worth taking."