Rebranded O2 Wholesale faces competition from Vodafone
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Rebranded O2 Wholesale faces competition from Vodafone

Telefónica’s UK wholesale arm, BE Wholesale, has rebranded to O2 Wholesale and is launching Ethernet services, as competition from Vodafone looms.

O2 Wholesale is, for now, the only provider in the UK to own both fixed and mobile networks but faces potential competition from Vodafone, which has expressed an interest in wholesale telco Cable&Wireless Worldwide (CWW). Vodafone has been granted an extension until March 29 to make an offer for CWW.

When asked about potential future competition from Vodafone, Chris Stening, MD of O2 Wholesale told Capacity that he “can’t speculate on what’s going to happen in the market” and insisted that the company was focused on the services it provides to its customers.

O2 Wholesale’s Ethernet offering will allow its partners to connect to customer’s sites, with value added voice and data services, including; IP VPN, cloud computing and internet access. “A lot of feedback from our partners has been that the other providers take too long to book and invoice an Ethernet service,” said Dan Cunliffe, head of partners and strategy at O2 Wholesale “We feel that there is an opportunity to deliver better service and as a result get a better return.”

BE Wholesale’s rebranding is part of a mobile and fixed strategy and is aimed at allowing the company to stand stronger against the brands of its UK wholesale competitors, which include BT, Cable&Wireless Worldwide and TalkTalk.

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