Everything Everywhere will keep both brands

Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, will retain both of its brands--Orange and T-Mobile. In an interview with the Financial Times, CEO Tom Alexander said that both brands will remain active for the foreseeable future or at least until the company has completed its brand review which will occur sometime this year.

Alexander said that customers are tied to both the Orange and T-Mobile brands and therefore he doesn't want to do anything to disrupt that relationship. However, many believe that Orange will increasingly become Everything Everywhere's "premium brand, while T-Mobile will focus on the low-end mobile deals.

Alexander also said that he is considering new pricing for smartphones--for example, customers in cities may have to pay more than those in rural areas.

Everything Everywhere is Britain's largest mobile operator with 28 million customers. However, the firm, which was created in April 2010, has had two quarters of disappointing financial results. In December, the company said that it could have as many as 1,200 job cuts in addition to a headcount reduction programme already underway. The company has denied newspaper reports that it was planning to cut a further 3,000 jobs over four years.

For more:
- See this Bloomberg article
- See this Financial Times article

Related Articles:
Massive job cuts planned by Everything Everywhere and O2 UK
M-Commerce: Everything Everywhere behind advertiser, retailer initiative
Everything Everywhere rejects top-heavy management accusation