[3g-g]

A nice little move, another that I'd of thought the others will follow suit on, they all have the same problems with churn.

Now O2 just need to get their network up to scratch eh? ;)


O2 has announced that existing customers will be offered the same handset and tariff deals as new customers in a bid to reduce network churn.

Churn is rife in the mobile phone business, and UK network operators lose an average of 30 per cent of customers each year as punters search for a better handset or tariff.

Attracting customers from other networks is paramount, but promotions aimed at doing so have often risked alienating existing punters, leaving operators in a no-win situation.

So O2 has decided to make the offers the same for both groups, which might stop some people leaving, but the mobile operator will need to maintain the quality of those offers if it's going to stop migration.

Customers who do decide to move to O2 will still be able to do so at a Carphone Warehouse store, thanks to the two companies extending their contract.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/25/o2_fair_deal/

[Ben]

MOBILE warns that this move is a glimpse of the market before 3 entered, a sign of a return to stagnation as the market moves from acquisition to retention once more.

Personally I think a widespread swing to retention is in the customers favour now. With five networks and a handful of virtuals there's plenty of competition, and far too much money has been blown recently needlessly adding yet more subscriber numbers rather than concentrating on service levels and quality.