Dixons Carphone sells Dutch business, launches MVNO
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Dixons Carphone sells Dutch business, launches MVNO

Dixons Carphone has agreed to sell its 83% stake in The Phone House Netherlands to Relevant Holdings.

The move to sell its majority stake for an undisclosed amount comes just a week after Dixons Carphone sold The Phone House Deutschland to German operator Drillisch. 

"This is another step in our clear strategic plan to focus on our core retail business in markets where we have scale and real relevance to customers, whilst growing through service partnerships in the wider international arena," said Sebastian James, Dixons Carphone's CEO.

Dixons Carphone said it will remain a minority shareholder upon completion of the deal, which is expected by the end of June 2015. 

The announcement comes a day after Dixons Carphone revealed further details of its MVNO which is due to go live on the Three network in May this year. The company first announced its plans for an MVNO in February 2015. 

The company claims the service – named iD – will offer the lowest priced 4G plan in the UK. 

The network will be initially offered through Samsung’s Galaxy A3 on a 12-month plan that comes with 300 minutes, 5,000 texts and 1GB of data for £19.50. In addition, it will also provide free data roaming in 22 countries, which it claims covers more European countries than its competitors. 

According to Dixons Carphone, the service was designed to address consumer frustrations with mobile phone plans. 

“We’ve been listening to our millions of customers’ network requirements and desires for years. In doing so we have identified some common challenges. People want greater flexibility from their plans and are fed up with the ‘one size fits all’ approach,” said Graham Stapleton, Carphone Warehouse’s UK CEO said.

Stapleton pointed to a recent study by consumer advice website Which? that found that by being on the wrong tariff, overspend on mobile phone charges in the UK amounts to £5.42 billion each year. 

“We are also a generation obsessed with the mobile internet and accessing data and services on the move – things people are either paying too much for or just aren’t getting. Addressing these challenges forms the basis of the first wave of plans from iD,” he added.

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