One2One customer base falls dramatically

NEWS Year on year growth has dropped from 843,000 new customers in the quarter ending 31 March 2000 to just 656,578 this quarter. Growth has not been this low since September 1999. Managing director Chris Harris said that unfettered growth was out. "We are determined to focus on profitable, long-term growth through the retention and attraction of customers who want to derive maximum value from the network. We are no longer interested in simply acquiring customers just to swell the customer growth figures each quarter," he said in a statement. He claimed this shift in focus from expanding the customer base to making profits would spark an industry trend. In line with this strategy, One2One is attempting to entice customers from its subsidised pre-pay handsets towards fixed, monthly contracts. On 1 May, it will raise the price of prepay handsets by £30. "The impact of this strategy has not yet reached the subscription figures," said a company spokeswoman. She said that growth always slowed down in March, following phenomenal growth in the build up to Christmas.