Avenir is aligning its strategy with those operators who are a best fit for the business with a very clear B2B vision, claimed Tow. T-Mobile has a strong consumer proposition, which is the wrong direction for Avenir, hence the termination of the distribution agreement Tow stated.
However, T-Mobile has gone on record stating that it dropped Avenir, rather than being dropped, as the business was not hitting the minimum performance levels it set out last year.
From the outset of the creation of its independent partner channel in May 2008, T-Mobile said it went to great lengths to explain the new, lower minimum performance levels and gave all its partners five months to comply with the new standards for doing business with T-Mobile. In a statement made this week, T-Mobile commented: “Unfortunately, Avenir Telecom has not achieved the required performance level to remain a T-Mobile distributor.”
T-Mobile said it will be closing the relationship earlier than originally reported by Avenir to enable both parties to concentrate on developing their respective businesses separately.
Yet Tow has said Avenir terminated the agreement first. He stated: “I don’t see how anyone can cancel a contract that has already been cancelled; it sounds like sour grapes to me. Anything else is semantics.
“We terminated our T- Mobile agreement last year, before any other activity occurred. We have given them [T-Mobile] not less than 90 days notice, which is what its contract required, so T-Mobile seems to be getting things a little confused regarding this business,” continued Tow.
Avenir Telecom notified T-Mobile on 29 December 2008 that it wished to terminate its trading relationship by the end of March 2009.
However, dealers formerly supported by Avenir are currently being transferred to other distributors by T-Mobile in order to minimise any disruption to them or their customers and to ensure continuity of the business, the operator said.