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Telecoms and broadband giant BT is reportedly exploring the possibility of launching a new low-cost mobile service brand to complement their premium EE service. Such a move would seek to replicate Three UK’s approach with sub-brand Smarty or Vodafone’s approach with VOXI, albeit with some of BT’s own unique twists.
The network operator has occasionally hinted at this idea before, although until now they’ve often seemed to be too focused on other projects to really develop it into something serious. But according to the FT‘s (paywall) sources, the telecoms giant is now alleged to be actively exploring a number of different options for launching a budget mobile brand.
One such option could involve creating an entirely new brand, in much the same way as Three UK and Vodafone already did above (not forgetting that O2 also did this with giffgaff) – starting from scratch. The other option could involve BT moving to acquire an existing Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) and then changing it to suit their purposes.
The move, if confirmed, could be seen as a response to how competitive the UK’s mobile market has become in recent years. Virtual operators seem to have been springing up all over the place, while pure eSIM providers (usually focused more on travel / roaming solutions) have recently added yet another new dynamic to the market.