France Telecom (FT) Orange and Deutsche Telekom (DT) have been given formal approval to launch their procurement joint venture. The new organisation, called Buyin, expects to generate savings of €1.3 billion each year for the two operators, but only after it has been running for three years.
The new JV, first announced in April, will be formed by both FT and DT pooling their purchasing activities in a 50:50 arrangement to buy handsets, mobile infrastructure and fixed-line equipment.
An FT spokeswoman told FierceWireless:Europe that the JV is applicable on a global scale. "Both parties aim to have the maximum number of our respective subsidiaries and affiliates participating in the co-operation," she said.
The companies expect worldwide savings--after Buyin's three-year start-up phase--to amount annually to €900 million for FT and €400 million for DT. In a statement, FT and DT said that equipment and services vendors would benefit from the standardisation of the equipment used by both companies.
The announcement also pointed toward FT and DT adding further to the co-operation that is already underway with Wi-Fi roaming, machine-to-machine and network sharing. However, the FT spokeswoman would not detail these new areas of collaboration, saying that "these are exploratory at this stage."
Buyin wil head headquartered in Brussels and be led by Volker Pyrtek, previously chief procurement officer at DT. Operational units will be established in Paris and Bonn, Germany, with around 250 staff drawn from purchasing departments in both companies.
For more:
- see this FT Orange press release
- see this Telecom Paper article (sub. req.)
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