O2 has teamed up with BT to offer a fixed line service for the first time, it announced today.
The Joined Up communications service will provide business customers with mobile, fixed line and broadband professional consultancy services, with the fixed line element being provided by BT Wholesale.
The company claimed that by bringing all communications together with one supplier, businesses can see a drop in cost as well as a reduction in complexity.
Ben Dowd, business sales director for O2 in the UK, said in a statement: "Businesses are often dealing with a hugely complex network of suppliers but are motivated to simplify and streamline their bought-in costs."
He added: "By moving into the fixed line market we are now able to provide our business customers with a genuine end-to-end service which incorporates landline, broadband and hi-speed data as well as the mobile and consultancy services we already offer."
The contract between the two companies will last for five years. BT Wholesale will operate a service management centre and offer second line help desk support but all end user contact services and end user billing will be provided by O2.
"As telecoms operators look to increase their revenues in today's capital constrained environment, they are increasingly choosing to partner with an experienced wholesaler to help them deliver a seamless and unified communications service for their customers," Sally Davis, chief executive of BT Wholesale, said in a statement.
"Through BT Wholesale's fully managed service, O2 can now expand into a new market with greater operational certainty and without the need for upfront capital investment."
The announcement follows in the footsteps of Vodafone which last week said it was offering its own unified comms service for business customers together with BT.
Katja Ruud, research director for Gartner, told IT PRO: "It is very interesting that the announcements are coming so close together but it is an illustration of enterprise who want to connect to just one provider. "
She added: "Also the mobile market is basically saturated and this is an adjacent service. It is difficult for them to continue growing with just mobile so although it is smaller revenues it is a good space to get into."
The Joined up communications service will be available from 1 October.
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