TELECOMS & MOBILE
Does Three have Pure intentions?
29-11-2007
by Charlie Taylor
Following Vodafone's purchase of Perlico, two other local telcos are cosying up and looking like they might be ready to take their relationship a step further.
Pure Telecom has teamed up with Three Ireland to begin delivering mobile phone services to its business subscribers. Under the terms of the agreement, Pure -- which already offers fixed telephony and broadband services to business and residential customers -- will re-sell Three's recently launched 'Business Sharer' packages.
Three's price plans, which were announced last Thursday, mark the mobile operator's first entry into the business market in Ireland. The mobile operator claims business users can save up to 30 percent on mobile phone bills if they switch provider.
In addition to enabling it to reach out to new subscribers, the alliance gives Three access to Pure Telecom's business support services with Pure acting as account relationship manager and providing a single point of contact for issue resolution, service provisioning and price plans.
Commenting on the agreement, Damien Gallagher, head of Business at Three said the alliance was a "win-win situation for both companies".
"We will benefit from Pure's expertise and experience offering dedicated business customer care, and Pure benefit from having access to Ireland's most business-friendly mobile phone service and network for calls, text and data services," said Gallagher.
Initially, Pure customers will receive separate bills for mobile services but the plan is to eventually introduce a single bill that will cover all of the firm's telecom offerings.
Pure, which was established in 2002 by Paul Connell and Alan McGonnell, recently gained a foothold into the residential market following its EUR1.1 million acquisition of NewTel Communications. The company said that it intends to offer mobile services to its residential customers as well in the near future.
"From Pure's point of view we've gone to our customers over the years as a one-stop shop for their telecoms. The only product that we couldn't supply until now has been the mobile side of things so from our perspective it was a gap in the market and one that we wanted to fill," Pure Telecom's Director, Paul Connell, told ENN.
"Mobile has typically been a closed shop in Ireland until now but we've brought it into the fold and have begun selling it to customers over the past few weeks on a trial basis, a move that has led some organisations to achieve savings of between 30 percent and 54 percent," he added.
Speculation is rising that the new agreement may be a precursor to a bigger deal between the companies.
Gallagher was quoted in the Irish Times on Thursday as saying that a local acquisition was a possibility for Three Ireland. Meanwhile, Connell did little to dampen such speculation when he spoke to ENN.
"Perlico has just been brought by Vodafone for EUR80 million, which I think was an outrageous valuation but one that makes sense given the convergence between fixed line and mobile telecoms. That's the way the market is going," said Connell.
"Is Pure Telecom about to be purchased by Three? No, there's nothing bubbling in the pot at the moment but who knows in the future?" he added.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 