Ben
7th August 2009, 12:21 AM
Have they hit bottom? Not sure how they intend to displace Orange, it has a sizeable lead over them and France Telcom has quite a sizeable operation here in the UK.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6127217a-82b0-11de-ab4a-00144feabdc0.html
The new head of T-Mobile UK has vowed to turn round the struggling company and make it Britains third-largest mobile phone operator within two to three years.
Richard Moat, who became T-Mobile UKs managing director in June, also disclosed the mobile operator had been buying Apple iPhones outside Britain and supplying them to customers who were threatening to leave.
The move is circumventing how O2, the UKs largest mobile operator, is supposed to be the exclusive British network for the iPhone.
Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile UKs owner, yesterday published the groups second-quarter results, which underlined why Germanys leading telecommunications group is contemplating selling its British subsidiary.
T-Mobile UK recorded a 17.3 per cent profit at the level of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the three months to June 30, down 2 percentage points on the same period last year. By contrast, O2, which is owned by Spains Telefónica, recorded a 25.8 per cent margin in the second quarter.
Rene Obermann, Deutsche Telekoms chief executive, declined to comment on the groups willingness to sell T-Mobile UK. Vodafone has been considering making an offer for the business, which is valued at 3bn-4bn ($4.3bn-$5.7bn).
Mr Moat, 54, said he was not involved in Deutsche Telekoms dealmaking and was focused on the turnround of T-Mobile UK.
I firmly believe we have been in fourth place for too long and we have to develop ambition to get away from there, he said.
He has set a target for T-Mobile UK to become the third-largest mobile operator by 2011 or 2012, as measured by its share of revenue paid by British mobile phone users.
O2 has a 27.7 per cent market share, compared with Vodafones 24.7 per cent, Oranges 21.5 per cent and T-Mobile UKs 14.9 per cent, according to research firm Enders Analysis.
Mr Moat is looking to increase T-Mobile UKs share partly by increasing its number of subscribers tied to monthly contracts, as they generate more revenue than customers on pay-as-you-go deals.
The extent of T-Mobile UKs efforts to stop its contract customers defecting to rivals was underlined by how the company is buying iPhones in continental Europe.
Mr Moat declined to say how many customers were offered iPhones, but the business has provided the handsets to a few hundred.
He expressed confidence he could improve T-Mobile UKs profit margin through a no-holds-barred approach to cost cutting. He said the margin would increase in the third quarter compared with the second, and he was looking for further improvement in the last three months of the year.
Deutsche Telekom reported group revenue of 16.2bn for the second quarter, up 7.4 per cent, and net profit of 521m, up 32.2 per cent. The results were boosted by DTs purchase of a controlling stake in OTE, Greeces leading telecoms company.
In April, the group gave a profit warning that highlighted problems at its US, UK and Polish arms.
To see Deutsche Telekoms results, go to www.ft.com/telecoms
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6127217a-82b0-11de-ab4a-00144feabdc0.html
The new head of T-Mobile UK has vowed to turn round the struggling company and make it Britains third-largest mobile phone operator within two to three years.
Richard Moat, who became T-Mobile UKs managing director in June, also disclosed the mobile operator had been buying Apple iPhones outside Britain and supplying them to customers who were threatening to leave.
The move is circumventing how O2, the UKs largest mobile operator, is supposed to be the exclusive British network for the iPhone.
Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile UKs owner, yesterday published the groups second-quarter results, which underlined why Germanys leading telecommunications group is contemplating selling its British subsidiary.
T-Mobile UK recorded a 17.3 per cent profit at the level of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the three months to June 30, down 2 percentage points on the same period last year. By contrast, O2, which is owned by Spains Telefónica, recorded a 25.8 per cent margin in the second quarter.
Rene Obermann, Deutsche Telekoms chief executive, declined to comment on the groups willingness to sell T-Mobile UK. Vodafone has been considering making an offer for the business, which is valued at 3bn-4bn ($4.3bn-$5.7bn).
Mr Moat, 54, said he was not involved in Deutsche Telekoms dealmaking and was focused on the turnround of T-Mobile UK.
I firmly believe we have been in fourth place for too long and we have to develop ambition to get away from there, he said.
He has set a target for T-Mobile UK to become the third-largest mobile operator by 2011 or 2012, as measured by its share of revenue paid by British mobile phone users.
O2 has a 27.7 per cent market share, compared with Vodafones 24.7 per cent, Oranges 21.5 per cent and T-Mobile UKs 14.9 per cent, according to research firm Enders Analysis.
Mr Moat is looking to increase T-Mobile UKs share partly by increasing its number of subscribers tied to monthly contracts, as they generate more revenue than customers on pay-as-you-go deals.
The extent of T-Mobile UKs efforts to stop its contract customers defecting to rivals was underlined by how the company is buying iPhones in continental Europe.
Mr Moat declined to say how many customers were offered iPhones, but the business has provided the handsets to a few hundred.
He expressed confidence he could improve T-Mobile UKs profit margin through a no-holds-barred approach to cost cutting. He said the margin would increase in the third quarter compared with the second, and he was looking for further improvement in the last three months of the year.
Deutsche Telekom reported group revenue of 16.2bn for the second quarter, up 7.4 per cent, and net profit of 521m, up 32.2 per cent. The results were boosted by DTs purchase of a controlling stake in OTE, Greeces leading telecoms company.
In April, the group gave a profit warning that highlighted problems at its US, UK and Polish arms.
To see Deutsche Telekoms results, go to www.ft.com/telecoms