house cleaning seattle plan: T-Mobile and Orange to rebrand as Everything Everywhere, sell 4G spectrum to rival Three (update)

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

T-Mobile and Orange to rebrand as Everything Everywhere, sell 4G spectrum to rival Three (update)

When UK networks T-Mobile and Orange united under the Everything Everywhere umbrella, many people speculated if the two would become a single entity. That didn't happen, but according to Sky News, that rollout of 4G services in October will also be part of a rebrand. The sources claim that new customers will join Everything Everywhere, with existing customers to be migrated around March 2013. A statement from Everything Everywhere acknowledges there was a confidential brand review, but refuses to comment on the speculation. Rival networks are already complaining that the approval of spectrum for use with 4G services gives the joint venture an unfair advantage, but the FT reports that the European competition authority has forced the pair to sell some of that spectrum -- and is in "advanced talks" with competitor network Three. This could mean that there are two operators offering next generation services, but neither being Orange or T-Mobile, or rather, not as we know them.

Update: We've received the following official statement from Everything Everywhere:

Everything Everywhere confirms that we are planning to launch a new brand in the UK later this year. This new brand will sit alongside our existing brands Orange and T-Mobile. We will reveal more information on our exciting plans in due course.

So, it looks like the existing brands will remain, with a mysterious new addition in the mix. It's also confirmed that the new brand won't simply be "Everything Everywhere," but instead something totally new. More as we get it.

Filed under: Cellphones