Orange go-ahead for data distributor
Telco likely to sign partner next month
Orange is likely to sign at least one data-centric distributor next month.
The company has recruited 40 of its target 100 tier-one resellers since launching a data channel programme in March, and will address smaller VARs through a distributor. Tier-one resellers are expected to generate between 500 and 1,000 connections a year.
"Half of data business customers want to buy through their voice supplier, but the other half want to buy through integrators," said Sam Sandercock, head of channel sales at Orange.
The firm said current distributor Hugh Symons addressed voice resellers rather than the data channel. Hugh Symons was not available for comment.
Rob Bamforth, analyst at Bloor Research, said: "This needs a value-added distributor similar to Hugh Symons. On the data side, these firms are few and far between."
Westcon, Computer 2000 and Azlan all said they had had discussions with Orange in the past.
Steve Muttram, managing director of distributor Portable, said: "I have spoken with Orange on numerous occasions, but no deal had been discussed recently. The [data] channel is not used to rebating. We have to find a way of selling mobile that the [data] channel is comfortable with."
Bamforth added: "Finding the right company to fit in there is going to be quite tricky."