The Carphone Warehouse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Headquarters | London, England, UK |
| Key people | Charles Dunstone, CEO G. Roux de Bezieux, COO Roger Taylor, CFO John Gildersleeve, Chairman |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Products | Home and Mobile telephone equipment and services |
| Revenue | £3,991m (2007) |
| Operating income | £95m (2007) |
| Net income | £67m (2007) |
| Employees | 19,810 (2,144 stores) |
| Subsidiaries | TalkTalk |
| Website | cpwplc.com |
The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC (LSE: CPW), known as The Carphone Warehouse, claim to be Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, with over 1,700 stores across Europe. They are based in the United Kingdom. Outside the UK and the Republic of Ireland, the retailer is named The Phone House.
The company was co-founded in 1989, when most portable phones were too bulky to carry and called car phones, by current CEO Charles Dunstone (together with David Ross[1]) from £6,000 savings. For 2006/07 they reported revenues of £3,991.5m[2].
Contents |
[edit] Timeline
| Year | Month | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | The Carphone Warehouse launched | |
| 1994 | Carphone Warehouse Insurance launched | |
| 1996 | First Phone House stores open outside of the UK, in Paris and Dublin | |
| 1999 | January | Acquisition of Tandy (UK only) for £9m[3] |
| 2000 | June | Acquisition of Cellcom for £9.1m[4] |
| 2002 | Acquired Opal Telecom | |
| 2003 | TalkTalk brand launched | |
| 2004 | January | Acquisition of e2save for £4.7m[5] |
| March | Acquisition of Xtra in Spain for £11.6m[5] | |
| November | TalkTalk Broadband launched | |
| 2005 | March | Acquisition of OneStopPhoneShop for £15m[6] |
| December | Acquisition of Tele2 for £11.5m[6] | |
| Acquisition of One.Tel for £169.6m[6] | ||
| 2006 | April | "Free" TalkTalk broadband offer launched[7] |
| October | Acquisition of AOL UK for £370m[8] | |
| Vodafone switches its contract business to Phones4U[9] | ||
| November | Launch of a MVNO in Spain under the brand "Happy Móvil" | |
| 2007 | January | Suspension of the Big Brother sponsorship deal. |
| May | Roll out of Geek Squad nationwide. | |
| June | Three-year £7million X Factor sponsorship deal signed.[10] | |
| July | Carphone Warehouse offers free laptop with AOL Broadband (counter-offer of PC World's free laptop with Orange Broadband deal). | |
| September | The Carphone Warehouse joins the FTSE100 |
[edit] Divisions
[edit] TalkTalk
TalkTalk is the home telecommunications branch of The Carphone Warehouse.
Carphone Warehouse also own Opal Telecom, a business to business telecoms provider with a popular switch. It may be construed as a conflict of interest that some of the competitors of TalkTalk such as Toucan (part of IDT Direct Limited), use this switch.
[edit] E2Save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk and One Stop Phone Shop
Mobile phone e-tailers e2save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk[1], and OneStopPhoneShop acquired by Carphone Warehouse.
[edit] Geek Squad
In October 2006 it was announced that Geek Squad would be launching in the UK in a 50/50 joint venture between Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy.[11]
Geek Squad currently offers 24 hour over-the-phone technology support and in-home technical support in the North-West of England and Greater London with surrounding area.
In 2008 the Carphone Warehouse is increasing its joint venture with Best Buy by launching Best Buy Mobile as a "store inside a store" inside of Best Buy's or as a separate store located by Best Buy stores throughout the United States. The labor will be split between the two companies.[12]
[edit] Repairs
The Carphone Warehouse has the largest Mobile Phone repair service in the UK, and repair centres in all of the countries it is actively trading in.
[edit] Marketing campaigns
 Mowbli Logo |
In the 1990s Carphone Warehouse became well-known for using the Stereo MCs' "Connected" in its advertisements.
Mowbli, the little mobile phone, is Carphone Warehouse's mascot. He appears mainly in radio advertisements with his friend Ed (voiced by the Irish comedian Ed Byrne), and also on television advertisements.
[edit] The X Factor (UK)
As of 19 June 2007, the Carphone Warehouse became the official sponsor of the fourth series of The X Factor. The sponsorship deal stands to last for three years. The Carphone Warehouse will also be the sponsor of its various spin-offs, including The Xtra Factor.[13]
[edit] Big Brother (UK)
The company were the sponsors for the UK's version of Big Brother since series 5 in 2004, until 2007. In 2006 they also sponsored Celebrity Big Brother and related Celebrity Big Brother shows on Channel 4.
On 17 January 2007, in response to alleged racism in Celebrity Big Brother, Charles Dunstone said: "We are talking to Channel 4. The sponsorship is constantly under review. Clearly we are against racism. Most people understand that the person who has their name associated with the programme does not necessarily condone the content. [14][15]
On the 18 January 2007, Carphone Warehouse announced that it had suspended its sponsorship of the show as Channel 4 had not taken sufficient action in response to the alleged racism in the show.[16]
On the 8 March 2007, the company permanently dropped its sponsorship of the show.[17]
[edit] SMS Campaigns (UK)
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008) |
The company sends unsolicited[dubious ] text messages to phones on different networks around Christmas time, such as this message received on a Vodafone pre-pay on 29 December 2007: "Left your Xmas shopping 'til the last minute? Call 08000491304 by 20 Dec to get your gifts delivered in time for Xmas - or to STOP texts. The Carphone Warehouse" and this message received on a Vodafone pre-pay on 7 December 2007: "Stuck for the perfect gift idea this Christmas? We've something for everyone at The Carphone Warehouse, pop in store today to see what Santa's delivered".
When the 0800 number was called to request the unsolicited messages to be stopped the company would demand both the number being spammed and the name and address of the owner of the phone - presumably[dubious ] to direct printed marketing at those attempting to stop unwanted direct unsolicited marketing to their personal mobile phone.
The advertising standards authority also require name and address in order to raise a complaint with The Carphone Warehouse.
Vodafone cannot block unsolicited SMS messages. They can only block harassment phone calls but not harassment SMS messages.[citations needed]
In 2004 The Carphone Warehouse successfully argued against a court case brought against them when an individual inadvertently authorised a seemingly unrelated company to send marketing to him[18].
[edit] Acquisitions
[edit] AOL UK
On 10 October 2006, Carphone Warehouse announced the purchase of parts of AOL UK for £370 m.[8][19][20] This makes Carphone Warehouse the 3rd largest broadband provider, with over 2 million customers, and the largest LLU Operator with more than 150,000 LLU customers.[21][22]
The acquisition process completed on the 9 December 2006
It has also been stated in their press release[8] that AOL UK Audience business will remain a separate organization and brand with a revenue sharing agreement. It is not yet clear if the AOL UK Access business (the broadband part) will be fully integrated into CPW.
AOL UK customers will not be automatically transferred to Talk Talk.[23]
AOL is consulting on job cuts. The Times stated "AOL has begun to consult on the cuts, with 100 of a total 500 UK jobs expected to go by Christmas."[24] In line with legal requirements, AOL UK has notified the DTI that redundancies are planned. The Press Gazette stated "The company has informed the DTI that it is possible that it will make more than 100 redundancies".[25]
On the 1 November 2006, it was made public that Karen Thompson, AOL UK CEO and President AOL Europe, had resigned and had been succeeded by Carlo d'Asaro Biondo (previously CEO of AOL France). Karen was responsible for launching AOL UK in 1996.[26]
AOL customers, welcome to the Carphone Warehouse family
I want to reassure you that we have no plans to change the service in any way at all. It will continue to be run by the existing team and will work, look and feel just as it does today. We have entered a long-term deal with Time Warner to keep providing the AOL content and we don't want to mess with what has clearly been a very popular product to date. In the New Year, all AOL customers will be offered the choice of transferring to Free Broadband if they want, by moving their line rental to TalkTalk and signing up for our Talk3 international telephone service. There will be continuity of service with the ability to take your AOL email address to TalkTalk and access to much of the content you previously enjoyed.– Charles Dunstone, 13 November 2006[27]
It was made public on 14 December 2006 that Carlo d'Asaro Biondo had resigned after only six weeks in his new role. Philip Rowley (the chairman of AOL Europe) has taken over on a temporary basis. The Guardian states: the management turmoil has put the European operation in "freefall" and created a "massive vacuum", according to one AOL insider. The same article estimates that 5,000 AOL jobs are to go world-wide (25% of staff) with a significant number from AOL UK.[28]
In January 2007 AOL UK is re-branded as AOL Broadband.
[edit] Changes to the Service
In an early press statement, The Carphone Warehouse stated they had "no plans to change the service in any way at all," but, since January, anyone heavily using P2P applications have had their downstream bandwidth limited to 50 kbit/s during peak times (6pm-midnight, Sunday to Thursday).[29] When users noticed this and complained, some were offered 30 days to cancel their contract free of charge.[30]
[edit] Marketing offers
In the third quarter of 2007, AOL Broadband caused a stir by offering a free laptop computer (and eventually a free Playstation 3) to all new customers signing up for a 24 month contract with its AOL Wireless Plus broadband package. While sceptics looked for a catch, industry experts conceded[31] that the offer was reasonable, despite the necessity to sign up to an AOL Talk home phone package in order to be eligible for the free laptop. While an option to not take a bundled home phone package was available, the price increased by £10; further offers include a free Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii in addition to other promotional items.
[edit] E2Save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk and One Stop Phone Shop
The Carphone Warehouse has acquired four former competitors, mobile phone e-tailers e2save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk[2], and OneStopPhoneShop. Orders are fulfilled through the Carphone Warehouse, but each company has its own terms and conditions and, significantly, rules regarding promotions.
[edit] Marketing offers and problems
These subsidiaries offered 'cash back' redemption on entering into a contract; customers must send in bills and vouchers to claim back line rental paid to the network. This has proved problematic for many customers.
In the case of the OneStopPhoneShop and e2save[3] customers have had a history of problems in claiming their cash back. OFCOM, the regulator, has admitted receiving many complaints about the behaviour of these two companies but no action has yet been taken.[32]
[edit] Data protection
During 2005 TalkTalk's proactive sales techniques drew criticism in the press when it was accused of practising "slamming" to win new customers. [33] Customers who bought mobile phones from Carphone Warehouse retail outlets alleged that their landline accounts were subsequently switched without their consent [34].
On the 15 August 2006, the Information Commissioner's Office issued Preliminary Enforcement Notices for breaches of PECR (The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) against Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk for making marketing calls to people who are signed up to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or people who have asked that the company make no further calls to them.[35][36]
On 28 October 2006 in a Times interview Richard Thomas, Britain's Information Commissioner, stated:[37]
We’re taking action against some of the telecom companies, Talk Talk and Carphone Warehouse. We’re taking action against them because we’ve had a lot of complaints that they’ve been telephoning people with marketing calls, people whose name is on the telephone preference service. And then we do these prosecutions, particularly with private detectives. We’ve got a big case coming up.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ David Ross appointed to board of the National Portrait Gallery. 10 Downing Street (17 February 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
- ^ CPW Annual Report 2007. CPW (18 June 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-18.
- ^ Carphone Warehouse Snaps Up Tandy's Old UK Stores 01/26/99. Newsbytes PM, (26 January 1999). Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
- ^ On 13 June 2000, the Group acquired the trade, assets and certain liabilities of Cellcom Limited, a telecoms services business registered in England, for a gross cash consideration of £9.1 m.
The Carphone Warehouse (2001). "[Archive copy at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine Annual Report 2001]". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-03. - ^ a b The Carphone Warehouse (2004). "Annual Report 2004". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
- "On 1 January 2004, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of E2save.com Limited, a company registered in England, for an initial gross consideration of £1.4 m, with a further contingent deferred consideration of up to £3.3 m payable over two years."
- "On 8 March 2004, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Xtra Telecom SA, a fixed line service provider registered in Spain, for an initial gross consideration of £7.5 m, with a further contingent deferred consideration expected to be up to £4.1 m payable over two years."
- ^ a b c The Carphone Warehouse (2005). "Annual Report 2005". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
- "On 1 March 2005, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of One Stop Phone Shop Limited, a company registered in England and Wales that specialises in the mobile ‘off-the-page’ market, for an initial gross cash consideration of £8.3 m, with a further contingent deferred consideration of up to £6.7 m payable over two years."
- "On 16 December 2005, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Tele2 UK Communications Limited (Tele2 UK), a company registered in Englandand Wales, for a gross cash consideration of £11.5 m. Tele2 UK is involved in the provision of telecommunications services to residential customers."
- "On 19 December 2005, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Centrica Telecommunications Limited, Onetel Limited, Telco Holdings Limited, Awardmodel Limited and their subsidiaries (Onetel), all of which are registered in England and Wales, for a gross cash consideration of £169.6 m. Onetel is involved in the provision of telecommunications services to both residential and business customers."
- ^ The Carphone Warehouse (2006-04-11). "Free broadband forever". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
- ^ a b c "Carphone Warehouse to acquire Time Warner's AOL Internet access business in the UK for £370 million", Carphone Warehouse Press Release, 2006-10-11. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
- ^ "Vodafone cans Carphone Warehouse", The Register, 2006-10-12. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
- ^ "X Factor-y on the high street", thesun.co.uk, July 11, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-01.
- ^ Durman, P. "Geek Squad comes to Britain", The Sunday Times online. Retrieved on April 4, 2007.
- ^ UK’s Carphone Warehouse to Open 1000 Stores in US with Best Buy | PhoneNews.com
- ^ {{cite web | title =Carphone Warehouse gets the X Factor | publisher =MediaGuardian | date =19-06-2007 | url =http://media.guardian.co.uk/realitytv/story/0,,2105944,00.html
- ^ UK police investigate threats against Big Brother celebs. Ireland on-line (2007-01-17). Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
- ^ Brook, Stephen (2007-01-17). Big Brother complaints explode. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
- ^ Big Brother sponsor suspends deal. BBC News (2007-01-18). Retrieved on 2007-01-18.
- ^ Sponsor evicts C4's Big Brother. BBC News (2007-03-08). Retrieved on 2007-03-08.
- ^ Carphone Warehouse SMS spam ruling reversed | The Register
- ^ "Carphone Warehouse to acquire Time Warner's AOL Internet access business in the UK for £370 million", AOL UK Press Release, 2006-10-11. Retrieved on 2006-10-27.
- ^ "Carphone Warehouse buying AOL UK", BBC News, 2006-10-11. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
- ^ "State of the nation - Local Loop Unbundling", thinkbroadband.com, 2006-10-26. Retrieved on 2006-10-28.
- ^ The exact figure for LLU customers is not in the public domain, hence 150,000 is the estimated minimum. "Carphone Warehouse with 421,000 live broadband users", thinkbroadband.com, 2006-10-26. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
- ^ "AOL broadband customers face dilemma after Talk Talk takeover", The Sunday Times, 2006-10-15. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
- ^ "AOL staff cuts follow its sale to Carphone Warehouse", The Times, 2006-10-12. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
- ^ "Journalists fear cuts at AOL", The Press Gazette, 2006-11-01. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
- ^ "AOL Europe gets new head", The Register, 2006-11-01. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
- ^ Charles' Blog
- ^ "AOL Europe loses another chief", The Guardian, 2006-12-14. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
- ^ How will I know if I exceed what is deemed acceptable usage?. AOL UK. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
- ^ Thread: AOL Silver upgrade to 2mb?. Computer Active forum (24 September 2006). Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
- ^ Is the AOL free laptop offer any good?. ChooseISP.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.
- ^ Problems with One Stop Phone Shop. Consumer Deals. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
- ^ "Phone scam hits thousands", Daily Mail, 2005-04-25. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ "When slamming the phone prompts a row", The Guardian, 2005-04-23. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Preliminary Enforcement Notices (pdf). ICO. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
- ^ Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 2426 The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
- ^ "Full text of the interview with Richard Thomas", The Times, 2006-10-28. Retrieved on 2006-11-13.
[edit] See also
[edit] Trivia
- Paul Potts, a manager of a Welsh branch of the Carphone Warehouse won ITV's Reality show Britain's Got Talent on 18th June 2007 with his performance of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma".
[edit] External links
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