Tiscali To Launch Mobile Phone Service
Tiscali is planning to launch a mobile phone service this year by rebranding ToucanMobile, which it bought last year.
The group is in talks with UK mobile phone operators about renting space on their networks to carry the service, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The service, which will be SIM only, is expected to launch in the final quarter of 2008. Tiscali will not subside handsets, and customers will have to use their existing phone or buy one themselves.
Tiscali acquired ToucanMobile last year, when it paid £210 million for the consumer internet and voice arm of Pipex.
The group plans to rebrand Toucan, which launched two years ago and has just 7,000 customers, under the Tiscali name.
Toucan currently leases space on T-Mobile’s network with a contract that has less than a year left to run. The contract is not exclusive and Tiscali is already talking to other major network owners.
Tiscali is expected to offer the mobile service as part of a package of services including TV, voice calls and internet connections.
The move would bring Tiscali in line with the likes of Orange, Sky, Virgin and BT, who all offer multi-play packages.
Tiscali: www.tiscali.co.uk