There are five cellular/mobile operators in the UK: Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, and 3. The first four hold licences to operate GSM (2G) services and UMTS (3G) services; 3 hold a licence to operate UMTS services.
Here is the quick version (try to keep up!):
3 are owned by Hutchison; before 3 started trading, Hutchison had previously owned and founded Orange. Hutchison sold Orange in 1994 to Mannesmann AG.
Vodafone are part of Vodafone Group, who were founded as part of Racal Telecom in 1983 – becoming Vodafone properly in 1991. They bought Mannesmann in 1994 but had to sell off the Orange part due to the regulation of competition; France Telecom now own Orange and are using its strong brand identity for other parts of its business.
T-Mobile is a mobile network operator that is a subsidiary of the German Deutches Telekom. T-Mobile bought the previous mobile operator, One2One in 2001.
O2 was formed from BT Cellnet (the result of a demerger from UK telecoms operator BT). O2 (then known as mmO2) was purchased in 2006 by Spanish telecoms operator Telefonica, which has since used the O2 brand as a catch-all for other services (much like Orange/FT).
So:
- Orange – France Telecom (France)
- T-Mobile – Deutches Telekom (Germany)
- O2 – Telefonica (Spain)
- Vodafone – Vodafone Group (UK)
- 3 – Hutchison Whampoa (China)
A little more detail to follow.
July 23, 2008 at 9:17 pm |
Thanks for that.
Presumably, BT had no interest in a mobile network – or was that due to monopolies?
July 23, 2008 at 10:14 pm |
The demerger was not so much about BT being uninterested in the mobile sector. It was indirectly down to a monopolies aspect though: BT looked to restructure in post-privatisation and as telecommunications there was ‘encouragement’ by Ofcom to contribute to a more liberalised marketplace.
A further motivation was, as they say in business clichés, “stick to the knitting”. BT was to focus on fixed line networks and demerge its mobile arm for financial and strategic reasons. It was a move that was backed by an overwhelming majority of shareholders.
More can be found in this Guardian article: Shareholders approve BT demerger
It is interesting to note that the concerns about a possible takeover of the fledgling mmO2 turned out to be a little over the top. They were taken over by Telefonica, but they were not consumed as feared, rather, they were integrated and now form a solid part of the business.