Reaction: O2 and Three block will benefit industry
The reaction follows the European Commission’s decision to block CK Hutchison’s takeover of O2 last week (May 11).
Dealers
May 17, 2016
SIM and handset rental firm forecasting multi-million pound revenue increase by providing thousands of connections during summer sporting event
Cellhire is expecting a £4 million boost to its annual revenues after agreeing deals to provide 20,000 connections during this year’s 2016 Rio Olympics, beginning in August.
The York-based firm, which had revenues of £21 million last year, told Mobile News it has signed deals with a number of large media organisations, global athletes and sponsors.
These include BBC, Reuters, ITV and teams such as GB, the US, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands as well as official Olympic sponsors McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Visa.
The company has signed roaming deals for its SIMs with Brazilian operators Claro – an official Olympic sponsor – Vivo and Oi. Average tariffs will range between one and three months, with the maximum data package being 40GB.
‘Record-breaking’
“We’re on target to distribute 20,000 SIMs. The volume and high number of customers could make this a record-breaking event for us,” Cellhire MD Matt Bennett told Mobile News. “We are fairly confident because of our existing partnerships and relationships.
Customers come back to us because they know we can be relied upon to deliver a good service. They’re also more likely to promote us to other organisations who haven’t used us before.”
Cellhire has worked with these media companies at previous sporting events. It provided 13,000 connections worth £2.5 million during the 2014 Brazilian World Cup. It also expects to provide 10,000 connections worth £1 million during this year’s European Football Championship in France.
Cellhire employs more than 100 people (65 in the UK) and has around 100 network partnerships (O2 and Vodafone in the UK) across more than 40 countries.