Counties Power sells Wired Country

Counties Power has sold its Wired Country business to Compass Communications, with half of one of its primary assets - wireless radio spectrum - going to Telecom.

The deal is conditional on Telecom receiving clearance from the Commerce Commission to buy the spectrum and industry observers do not expect any anti-competitive objections.

Telecom has no immediate plans for the spectrum. The frequency involved is used in the provision of wireless broadband internet services.

The company is likely to sit on the asset while it determines how to take advantage of the emerging WiMax wireless broadband standard.

Terms of either deal were not disclosed, but Counties Power originally paid $540,000 for the spectrum lot in a 2003 auction.

Compass will pick up the remainder of Wired Country's assets, which include one lot each of national and Auckland spectrum rights; a fibre network round Pukekohe; a wireless network in Auckland and Hamilton; and its customer base.

Compass would not say how many customers it was inheriting nor how many it already had.

Counties Power, an electricity lines provider, had been looking to offload Wired Country, which it did not consider part of its core business.