Orange and TMo brands to survive in UK

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Orange and TMo brands to survive in UK

Everything Everywhere venture will have three overlapping labels, with Orange positioned at the premium end

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 21 September, 2011

READ MORE: Spectrum | UK | Everything Everywhere

Everything Everywhere hardly counts as one of the great brand names in mobile, so it is unsurprising that the UK joint venture plans to hang onto the labels of its partners, Orange and T-Mobile, after all.

When the JV was formed by Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile and France Telecom/Orange, the plan was to replace the separate brands, even though both were well recognized in the UK market. But insiders said political bickering won the day and forced a new brand to be created, rather than risk one element of the 50:50 alliance being seen as more important than the other.

The regard for fairness may be less scrupulous now, with a new CEO, Olaf Swantee, probably more interested in leveraging the value of a well established mobile brand than calming corporate sensitivities. Under Swantee's recent reorganization, Orange took a notably bigger position in the senior ranks of the company, with former T-Mobile UK chief, Richard Moat, among those leaving.

The Orange brand is widely regarded as the more significant in the UK. It is now likely to be positioned as the premium side of EE's business, with T-Mobile becoming the 'value' label. In an interview with The Financial Times, Swantee dropped heavy hints at this new structure. "I am excited about having two tools in my box where I can address the need for value as well as being really strong on the premium side with segmented offers and extra services," he said.

The cumbersome Everything Everywhere name remains the official corporate identity for the venture, and will also be used as a retail name, although in a more limited way than originally expected. It will adorn 35 flagship stores due to launch across the UK during the rest of this year, which will offer the complete range of EE services, including business offerings.

The cellco is also looking to raise new funding to support a bid for spectrum in the upcoming 800MHz and 2.6GHz auctions, which regulator Ofcom hopes will go ahead next year. The FT says EE will appoint two banks to run the fundraising effort though Swantee would not elaborate on the type of financing they would seek. "A company the size of Everything Everywhere reviews all finance options, particularly given the potential spectrum options [such as] a separate financing or a financing through the shareholders," he said.