SUBSCRIBE TO TMCnet
TMCnet - World's Largest Communications and Technology Community

CHANNEL BY TOPICS


QUICK LINKS




UK Retailer Phones 4U Collapses after Carrier EE Pulls Out

TMCnet Feature

September 15, 2014

UK Retailer Phones 4U Collapses after Carrier EE Pulls Out

Share
Tweet
By David Delony
Contributing Writer

The British phone retailer Phones 4U has announced that it is going into administration, the U.K. equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after its last remaining carrier, EE, decided to cut ties with the company, according to The Telegraph.


“Today is a very sad day for our customers and our staff. If the mobile network operators decline to supply us, we do not have a business,” Phones 4U CEO David Kassler said in a statement.

Phones 4U has 720 stores and employs nearly 6,000 people. Managers planned to announce the decision to close to employees on Monday. The company said that people working there would be paid “until further notice,” while the stores themselves remain closed. The company’s management is deciding whether to reopen the stores.

Despite the closure, there will be minimal disruption to the consumers. Phones 4U will refund the money for customers who have bought phones but have had their orders unfulfilled. The phone contracts customers have signed through the retailer will remain in effect.

The move comes as mobile carriers in the country are focusing on selling phones in their own stores instead of partnering with third-party retailers. Regulators in the U.K. have limited how much carriers can charge for things like roaming, so they’re looking to make more money at retail.

Prior to the announcement that EE would be dumping Phones 4U, two other major carriers had done the same thing. Vodafone cut ties with the retailer earlier in September, and O2 (News - Alert) had departed in February.

Like Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S., administration means that Phones 4U will reorganize its finances, but without any major carriers, the fate of the company itself looks grim. The company’s stores will likely be bought by the major carriers to open their own retail stores, or by remaining competitors, such as Carphone and Dixons.

Phones 4U was founded in 1987, when mobile phones were still a curiosity associated with high-powered business executives. Kassler said at the time of the closure that the company was successful, making profits of over 100 million pounds ($162.3 million).




Edited by Maurice Nagle


View all articles


Comments powered by Disqus








Technology Marketing Corporation

2 Trap Falls Road Suite 106, Shelton, CT 06484 USA
Ph: +1-203-852-6800, 800-243-6002

General comments: [email protected].
Comments about this site: [email protected].

STAY CURRENT YOUR WAY

© 2024 Technology Marketing Corporation. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy