Secret mobile phone deal stays under wraps

Details of a commercial deal between Vodafone and 2degrees will stay under wraps after the Commerce Commission confirmed last night a confidentiality order would remain in place.

A deal between the rival telcos was brokered late last year by the previous government's Communications Minister David Cunliffe and set out the terms for customers to call and text between the networks.

Key information contained in the deal was published by several media outlets last week, including the NBR on its website and the print edition of the Independent.

The Commerce Commission order NBR to remove the information from its website and banned further publication of the details under Section 100 of the Commerce Act.

Vodafone has pushed for the release of the information, claiming the public interest in the details outweigh the need to make it commercially sensitive.

In a statement released by the Commission last night it said it aims to make all information publicly available but confidentiality means that is not always possible.

"The Commission considers and comes to its own conclusions about whether information does indeed require confidentiality protections," said Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Ross Patterson.

"Claims of confidentiality are balanced against the need for a transparent and informed decision-making process. However, when confidentiality is necessary, it is important that all parities can respect and trust that the process and protections are robust," said Patterson.

The Commission is investigating the potential breach of the confidentiality order.