Vodafone UK Signs New MNO Deal with Dixons Carphone UPDATE

Mobile operator Vodafone UK has today announced that they’ve signed a new multi-year Mobile Network Operator (MNO) partnership deal with Dixons Carphone, which separately runs the MVNO provider iD Mobile and will thus see new packages launch “later in the year.”

For those still living under a rock, Dixons Carphone is the business behind Currys PC World and Carphone Warehouse – they also own iD Mobile. But as a result of today’s agreement Vodafone will now become the “exclusive mobile network partner (MNO) for Dixons Carphone“, although so far as we’re aware Three UK will continue to underpin iD Mobile.

Unfortunately, today’s announcement doesn’t spell out what kind of changes we can expect from the agreement, except for the fact that Dixons Carphone will “benefit from continued great deals from Vodafone” and “Vodafone will underpin Dixon Carphone’s new mobile offer, launching later in the year, alongside the business’s award-winning mobile virtual network (MVNO), iD Mobile.”

Max Taylor, Consumer Director of Vodafone, said:

“This is a very exciting new agreement for us, that ensures connectivity to our award-winning network is made available to even more people across the UK. This is a completely new and exclusive arrangement, which will drive customer experience improvements and value growth for both parties. The partnership gives us the opportunity to work more closely together than ever before, focusing on creating more innovative mobile solutions for customers.”

Ed Connolly, Chief Commercial Officer of Dixons Carphone, said:

“We’re delighted to develop our long-term partnership with Vodafone which will see them become our exclusive MNO partner ahead of our new mobile offer launching later this year.

Together, we’ll provide an exciting and innovative new mobile offering designed with modern customers’ needs in mind. The new offer will give customers better flexibility, transparency and value and is the final step in the transformation of our mobile business.”

The press release isn’t particularly clear on what this could mean for iD Mobile in the future, which only recently signed an extended agreement with MVNO supplier Three UK (here).

UPDATE 29th June 2021

Dixons Carphone has responded to say that they remain “committed to iD Mobile and to our MVNO partner, Three UK.” The new Vodafone announcement, they add, “doesn’t impact our previous announcement or our relationship with Three.”