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A partnership between the Coop and Sure could see a new mobile service called Coop Mobile rolled out in the Channel Islands, provided that a proposed merger between Sure and Airtel is approved.
The new service is one of several ‘legally binding commitments’ Sure has made as it continues to work towards a pan-island merger.
The Guernsey based telco announced its intention to acquire Airtel by mutual consent in October 2022. The public intention of Sure is to also acquire Airtel’s Guernsey operation.
While this merger is being regulated by the JCRA (Jersey Competition and Regulatory Authority) in Jersey, the deal would have to be signed off on a political level in Guernsey.
This is because Sure isn’t looking for regulatory approval for the merger in Guernsey, it is instead applying for an exemption to suspend Competition Law.
Economic Development published a policy letter last year that sought political support to bypass the law. It said at the time: “Guernsey’s Competition Law includes a mechanism that makes it possible for the States to agree to make a specific and time-limited exemption, as it recognises that there may be occasions when the Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority (GCRA) has concerns from a competition perspective, but when there are compelling wider benefits which mean the government might enable a transaction to take place."
The Committee argued that the economic benefit of the deal outweighed any competition concerns. However, it was forced to pull back the policy letter before debate after the JCRA indicated that it was minded to block the merger, and the deal can’t go ahead without ‘approval’ in both islands.
Jersey’s regulator had concerns that reducing the number of telecom providers from three to two would ‘lessen competition’.
Sure has now revealed a move via an agreement with the Coop to essentially launch a third provider in the shape of a new MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator). An MVNO is a service provider that does not own the infrastructure it operates on.
Mark Cox, Chief Executive of the Channel Islands Co-operative Society said: “Coop Mobile is an exciting venture for us, for our members and for our customers across the islands, who will benefit from Sure’s investment in the latest technology and our unbeatable retail expertise.”
Coop Mobile would utilise Sure’ existing infrastructure, but compete against the telecom for its customer base.
“Introducing the Coop as a virtual operator is the ideal way to preserve competition and customer choice, and makes the proposed acquisition of Airtel Vodafone an even strongerDeal,” explained Sure Group CEO Alistair Beak.
Pictured: Mr Alistair Beak.
The launch of Coop Mobile remains contingent on the Sure/Airtel merger being approved by the JCRA and Competition Law in Guernsey being temporarily suspended.
If the deal gets across the line, Sure is also committed to investing £48million into 5G “to dramatically improve speeds and mobile coverage”.
Express sought an updated statement from Economic Development on the announcement of a new MVNO, to find out whether another policy letter could be brought before the States.
It’s President, Deputy Neil Inder, simply said “the Committee is monitoring developments”.
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