Orange and easyMobile court case to start in November

NEWS

Orange and easyMobile will face each other in the courts this year to settle their spat over colour.

The pair are getting litigious over the use of the colour orange - Orange alleges easyMobile's orange-flavoured branding will provoke confusion in the market. EasyGroup, however, has been using the colour since its inception and easyMobile says it is simply in line with its branding heritage.

Now the pair have brought in the lawyers to settle the dispute. The court case is scheduled to start in the last 10 days of November and Orange expects the case to conclude before the end of the year.

EasyMobile boss Stelios Haji-Iannou said the company is looking forward to its day in court. "There can only be one outcome - we can use the colour. Full stop. Any other outcome is unthinkable," he said today.

Haji-Iannou also hit out at Orange's parent company France Telecom. "It's the attitude of France Telecom that they've got money to burn on lawyers... They've picked the wrong subject - [orange] is so fundamental to us, we can't possibly change it," he added.

EasyMobile has also announced a U-turn in its strategy - ditching its internet-only sales approach as well as starting to sell handsets in addition to the SIMs and fixed-price top ups the MVNO has traditionally offered.

EasyMobile will now sell its wares via The Link retail stores, as well as online and in easyInternet cafes, and will offer a small range of handsets including models from Motorola and Nokia. The partnership between The Link and easyMobile will remain exclusive for three months. Haji-Iannou said: "Small companies take certain steps and see how it goes. We're still a start-up. We're finding our way."

EasyMobile declined to give any customer numbers but the most recent total disclosed by the operator was some 15,000 users. However, Haji-Iannou said he's happy with progress so far. "If you look at our competitors, some have been around for 20 years," he added. "I don't think one year on we're in a bad position."

Pete Nuthall, wireless industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said easyMobile had previously underestimated the importance of handsets in the UK mobile market. "The phone is a big driver, it's a big part of the purchase decision – it's a status symbol almost. I don't think they balanced the proposition correctly," he said.

Nuthall added that easyMobile's 'no frills' approach would have been better targeted at those not fully au fait with mobiles. He said: "The offer proposition and the simple handsets would attract middle England and the elderly - those are relatively under-penetrated compared to other segments."

EasyMobile imported its business model from Denmark, where its partner TDC's Telmore acquisition, took a 10 per cent share of the Danish market within a year. It seems the no frills approach has failed to attract the same sort of enthusiasm elsewhere, with customer numbers in both Germany and the Netherlands remaining low.

TDC's CEO recently said the company will not launch its no frills offering in any further markets until Germany, the Netherlands or the UK proves the concept can attract significant customer numbers outside of Denmark.