Fone Logs wins Qualitel deal

Fone Logistics has secured a deal with business telecoms specialist Qualitel to be its sole distributor of O2 products.

The distributor won the two-year contract after beating off competition to win exclusive ownership of Qualitel’s entire O2 distribution.

It becomes Fone Logistics’ fourth deal in the last two months. Last month it announced a deal with Vodafone to deliver its fixed line products as well as landing an exclusive contract with Virgin Media to distribute its range of home broadband, telephone and TV bundles. It has also agreed to distribute the new Samsung B2700 handset to the construction market.

Fone Logistics managing director Ian Gillespie said: "We have reached a deal to guarantee Qualitel's O2 business for the next two years in the face of stiff competition, O2 Direct included, and with the requirement to demonstrate an improvement on admitted drops in service levels mid last year.

"Qualitel has been one of our premier partners for the past 18 months and is one of the most successful dealers in the country across a number of networks. We continue to be very pleased to work with them."

B2B dealer Qualitel has a direct relationship with Vodafone and is an Orange Business Partner via Mainline. It also claims to be one of the top 20 B2B independents in the UK.

Qualitel managing director Mike Ridgway said: "Fone Logistics has won this account based upon an imaginative and commercially attractive offer and off the back of a demonstrable improvement in service levels and expertise.

"I am looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship between our two companies and am confident that we have made the right choice in Fone Logistics."

O2 revenues up 10 per cent

O2’s revenues are up 10 per cent year on year to £6.26 million, naming the iPhone, BlackBerry and Simplicity as leading products. Traditional ARPU is down two per cent while data ARPU has risen nine per cent.

Net mobile additions in the year reached 1.1 million, up 45 per cent year on year and ending December 2008 with a total mobile base of 19.5 million lines, excluding Tesco Mobile. Contract customers make up 39.1 per cent of the total base, up two per cent from last year. The company attributed this growth to propositions such as Simplicity SIM only packages, the 3G iPhone and mobile broadband. The network said it sold one million iPhones last year.

Prepay customer numbers grew 82.7 per cent to reach 11.9 million, drawn by offers such as prepay mobile broadband and the prepay iPhone. O2 recorded total churn of 2.7 per cent, down from 2.9 per cent in 2007.

Total ARPU last year was £26.66, recording a 1.4 per cent year-on-year growth, however, Q4 saw a decline of 1.7 per cent

Contract ARPU showed a year-on-year decline of 2.1 per cent as, ironically, customers are more frequently choosing value deals such as Simplicity and scrutinising their usage. Prepay ARPU for the year declined 0.6 per cent from 2007, reflecting the increased uptake of prepay tariffs such as Unlimited.

However, this was compensated for by the 9.2 per cent rise in data to £10.17, driven by mobile broadband and data bolt-ons.

The network’s DSL broadband service added 270,157 lines in 2008, with its total broadband customer base at 340,866 lines at the end of December.

Telefonica Europe chief executive Matthew Key said: “While our results appear to be bucking economic trends, we remain concerned about the current trading environment which has resulted in an overall smaller market. In times like these, execution becomes even more critical in offering customers services and propositions that they value.”