It has spent over NZ$550 million building its mobile network, which as of 2016[update] covers Ashburton, Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Hastings, Invercargill, Levin, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Palmerston North, Queenstown, Rotorua, Taupō, Tauranga, Timaru, Wanganui, Wellington and Whangārei.

[4] 2degrees is owned by 2degrees (NZ) Holdings Pty Limited, with Macquarie Asset Management and Aware Super as its ultimate shareholders.

2degrees launched 3G (UMTS 900/2100) services in August 2010 in all coverage areas, including One NZ roaming locations.

It now has an infrastructure sharing agreement with One NZ on 200 remote towers (using Multi Operator Radio Access Network (MoRAN) technology).

B N78 (3500Mhz) Rural Broadband Initiative 2 (RBI 2) and Mobile Black Spots Fund (MBSF) funding from the New Zealand Government resulted in a collaboration between 2degrees, One NZ and Spark NZ, all New Zealand's mobile network operators and Crown Infrastructure Partners.

This new company Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) will provide new shared mobile coverage and wireless broadband using Multi Operator Radio Access Network (MoRAN) technology Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) sites are mostly 4G 700 (with 4G 1800 and 2100 as needed for capacity).

Each site is required to meet government targets of providing fast wireless broadband, connectivity to a tourist location, and/or coverage to rural state highways.

[17] These foreign customers can place calls using 2degrees cell sites in cities, towns and localities in New Zealand described as broadband zones by 2degrees.

Rangiaho Everton claimed that the auction breached the Treaty of Waitangi because she believed radio spectrum is taonga and the government has no right to sell it.

It was not until Labour won the 1999 election that Māori were allocated one of the four 2 GHz 3G spectrum licences at a "discounted price" - it was given, and they were paid $5 million to "develop" it.

[21] In June 2008, Trilogy International Partners, which was established in 2005 by Strive Masiyiwa, John Stanton, Bradley Horwitz and others, purchased the 26% stake from Econet Wireless in NZ Communications Ltd.[20][24][25] In 2009, NZ Communications changed its name to 2degrees and began a roaming deal with Vodafone New Zealand.

[20][27] In mid-2009, 2degrees was owned by Trilogy International Partners, a US venture capital firm specializing in mobile networks (58.66%),[28] Communication Venture Partners, a London-based company that invests in telecommunications and related software businesses (27.13%), Te Huarahi Tika Trust (10.17%)[29] and KLR Hong Kong (0.50%).

[27] In July 2009, General Enterprise Management Services, a Hong Kong-based private equity fund,[30] sold its 25.76 percent shares to Trilogy.

[23] On 30 March 2013, 2degrees CEO Eric Hertz and his wife Kathy were killed when their twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, which was flying from Auckland to Timaru, ditched in the sea near Raglan at about 12:30pm after reporting engine failure.

[37] The Commerce Commission's Telecommunications Monitoring Report from December 2018, shows 2degrees mobile market share at 21%, with Vodafone at 41% and Spark at 32%.

[citation needed] On 14 April 2020, the company announced that they were to cut the workforce by 10% (i.e. 120 staff), stop recruitment, and reduce spending on capital projects in response to declining turnover caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

[41] 2degrees has 59 retail stores,[42] including fifteen throughout Auckland, one in Wellington City, one in Paraparaumu, four in Hamilton, two in Tauranga, two in Christchurch and one in Dunedin.

[43] 2degrees halved the prevalent pricing for prepay mobile in the New Zealand market, with voice calls costing 44 cents.

2degrees has run commercials featuring Rhys Darby, a comedian known for making jokes and sketches about New Zealand life.

In May 2024, the Commerce Commission filed eight charges against 2degrees for misleading claims,[50] after which, 2degrees removed the 90 limit on free roaming to Australia.