Dealers: O2 Joined Up “too cheap”

O2 dealers are rejecting O2’s fixed line proposition ‘Joined Up’, branding it “too cheap” to provide sufficient margins.

Joined Up launched last month as one of the cheapest fixed line propositions available in B2B. Dealers connecting customers to Joined Up receive around eight per cent on going revenue.

However, a number of O2 dealers – including those in the O2 Centre of Excellence and O2 Approved – are dismissing  O2 for higher margins and revenues with other fixed line providers.

There are also concerns with O2’s additional deals offering free mobile calls, which again is expected to substantially reduce dealers’ ongoing revenue earning potential.

O2 said last week, that around 15 per cent of all calls made from a business landline are to mobiles and represent 40 per cent of the total bill.

One dealer said: “O2 has a very attractive deal which is brilliant for the consumer but not the dealer. They should have gone in with something competitive but not too cheap. It’s a great deal, but for large fixed line dealers it’s simply not as appealing financially.”

Another said: “Ongoing revenue is great, but when the price of what it’s attached to is so low, it becomes too diluted. It is great for the customer, but it puts the dealer in a position of what’s best. It’s a battle of morals.”

An O2 spokesperson said: “O2 revenue share is paid across mobile, landline, mobile broadband and mobile landline. By selling all of these services as part of a single, joined up solution partners will earn more money from O2 than other networks.

“In future we will add technical support and broadband to the list, allowing our partners to share in all of the customers communications/IT spend.

“Individually we may not pay the most on each element, however we believe together this is the most compelling commercial package in the marketplace.”