BT Wholesale has officially announced the impending roll out of EE services to the channel, giving selected partners the freedom to price mobile deals on the network ‘as they choose’ by the new year.
Speaking at the company’s Partner Plus Live event staged at The Shard in London, Propositions Manager Garry Mistry said partner pressure to roll EE services out to the channel, which have only been available to BT’s direct sales teams for a decade, led to the announcement.
“Mobile is now an essential component of any voice sale. Our partners have spoken to us, we have listened, and we have designed a proposition to suit their business. That means, whilst we will be providing our expertise to our partners, we are giving them the freedom to add their value to their small business customers, their value in terms of the contractual terms that they choose to sign and their value in terms of the overall proposition.
“It means our partners can lead with their brands in their marketplace, but they will have specific rights to reference the EE brand.”
Mistry said the thinking behind the launch was the channel market opportunity identified.
“We estimate that approximately 23% of all mobile sales to small business in the UK are made via indirect channels. That’s £750 million worth of annualised revenues. Businesses like Uber, Netflix, Instagram, YouTube and Amazon would not have evolved the way they have without the launch of widespread 4G.
“EE has pledged to make 5G available to 90% of the UK landmass by 2028 and it will be fascinating to see what our partners do with this opportunity.”
Mistry urged partners to act now rather than wait until the new year roll out.
“We’re solution ready and we’re entering into trials, but my advice to our partners would be to start speaking to their account managers over the coming days and weeks and to start to landscape with them what mobile means to their business today.”