Cutting Room: Why is T-Mobile out in the cold?

With no sign of any former T-Mobile executives in Everything Everywhere’s new leadership team, Paul Withers looks at how the JV seems to be pushing that brand further away

When Everything Everywhere announced its new leadership team on September 1, it was a big stepping-stone for the company on its way to being a complete entity.

As we all now know, Everything Everywhere became the largest mobile-phone operator in the UK after the merger, overtaking Telefonica SA’s O2 unit. The company had 27.5 million customers at the end of June, after losing 188,000 users in the second quarter, as it shifted customers to long-term contracts.

However, the fact that the T-Mobile brand seems to have been pushed further away from Everything Everywhere, shouldn’t come as any great surprise.

The omission of Richard Moat wasn’t a total shock. With the formation of Everything Everywhere in May 2010, Tom Alexander took the job as CEO ahead of Moat, and the former T-Mobile UK CEO was again overlooked in favour of Olaf Swantee, when Alexander announced his departure from the company in July.

Whether Moat was pushed or jumped from the company is unclear, but you wouldn’t blame him if it was the latter of these alternatives.

He follows a long line of former T-Mobile executives to leave Everything Everywhere over recent months, including Phil Roberson, John Fannon, Mark Duncan and lastly, Russell Taylor.

Looking deeper into the new team, seven are former Orange executives, with three new faces joining the fold.

Not only has Moat left, but all trace of T-Mobile has disappeared from the main management team. Most of them have vast experience with Orange, and know how the brand and company as a whole needs to be run.

There has long been the perception within the industry that Everything Everywhere was favouring the Orange brand over T-Mobile, something the company has continuously denied.

T-Mobile even attempted to reassure 50 key business partners on a team-bonding trip to Paris in July that the brand would remain long-term.

Everything Everywhere has also revealed it is to launch a version of Orange’s Pocket Landline service early next year.

However, with this team announcement, you can’t help but feel that Everything Everywhere is looking to keep T-Mobile at arm’s length.

The brand review, marking the 18 month mark since Everything Everywhere was formed, will be finalised at the start of October. This should give us a definitive answer as to whether Everything Everywhere’s defence of the T-Mobile brand stands up well.