Orange takes direct route to SMEs
Telco denies that plan will inconvenience partners
Orange has insisted its move to launch a new business advisory service in some of its own outlets will not tread on its indirect partners’ toes.
Following similar moves from Vodafone and O2, the operator will equip a slew of its high street shops with staff trained to advise SMEs on their communications needs.
Martin Lyne, newly appointed director of small business for Orange Business Services, said: “We’re building a direct channel arm, but it will be complementary to our channels.
“We need to ensure we won’t be setting up retail stores to compete with partners, which will come down to demographic planning.”
Lyne said he can envisage Orange moving closer to Vodafone’s model, which has 27 per cent of its retail space focused on business customer needs.
Karl Groves, managing director at Blackberry and Orange reseller Berkley IT, said: “This won’t take a huge amount of business from us as it’s aimed at one to five users.”