Orange and T-Mobile have announced the name of their new joint venture: 'Everything Everywhere', and outlined plans for the future.
The new deal has been outlined by the two firms, and the most interesting thing is that the two networks will not merge on the high street, staying open as two separate brands.
This means that those on T-Mobile will not become Orange customers, something the EE people (we can't stomach saying Everything Everywhere yet) say will "allow the two trading brands of Orange and T-Mobile a shared platform of strength, with each brand owning clear emotional territory in terms of propositions, marketing and brand identity."
The merger will officially take place from 1 July, where all employees of both networks will become part of the EE family, which will cover over 30 million people in the UK.
Cost savings
The real savings will be behind the scenes, where elements like network infrastructure costs will be reduced through shared builds and site deployment.
Another telling part of the release shows that the future might be different, for at least one of the brands.
"The company intends to propel itself beyond mobile communications, with a greater focus in developing new revenue streams based on the way customers will use their devices in the future.
"With greater scale, the company intends to develop new revenue streams in adjacent markets, such as mobile advertising and mobile commerce.
"With the company's new coverage and scale, it also intends to ramp up offers to the business market, with the best propositions and value for businesses across Britain."
This could likely mean a greater push into the same space as the likes of Virgin and Sky – delivering not only mobile phones, but also broadband, TV and phoneline bundles all at once, as Orange has long been dabbling in the IPTV business.
