"All mobile phone users should warmly welcome 2degrees' announcement that it is launching a "pay monthly" plan, but the large corporate users who spend thousands or millions of dollars a year on mobiles will be especially pleased."

That's the reaction from the Chief Executive of the Telecommunications Users Association (TUANZ), Ernie Newman, to the news that 2degrees is to enter the "on account" market from tomorrow. Until now its services have been confined only on pre-pay.

"Since it launched a year ago, 2degrees has shown the enormous power of a third entrant to take on a comfortable duopoly in an over-priced market, and offer real value to users through innovative low pricing," Mr Newman said.

"This new development will open 2degrees services to customers who want a monthly account rather than a pre-pay service.

"Several of the features are a great improvement on the restrictive terms which Vodafone and Telecom have used to hold customers to ransom. For example, 2degrees will allow customers to carry forward unused monthly voice minutes and texts to a subsequent month, rather than forfeit them as the other operators commonly require. And there will be no requirement to commit to long term contracts.

"These are game-changing developments in the market.

"The really big beneficiaries will be big corporate users. These organisations have paid excessively by world standards until now, not only for calls from their own staff mobiles, but also for the calls their customers make from mobiles to their landline-based call centres. Excessive charges have resulted in some big users including banks and government agencies being forced to bar calls to their 0800 numbers from mobile phones. This is dumb!

"The combination of this expansion of 2degrees services, and the government's decision to regulate mobile termination rates in accordance with global best practice, will drive prices down to internationally competitive levels. TUANZ members welcome this development warmly, and the public should do the same."