Dextra says it is ‘not a big loss’ after Vodafone terminated its post pay consumer deal terminated.
Dextra bosses said they had been expecting the decision for a few months after seeing the number of Vodafone consumer contracts dwindle over the last half of the year.
Dextra, who was the sole consumer post pay distributor for Vodafone, said the network once accounted for around 75% of its airtime business, but now only does around 10%.
And over the last six months Dextra has seen the majority of its connections shift from consumer to business.
Dextra finance director Steve Marsh said: ‘This is not a big loss for us.
‘An ongoing part of our strategy is to move out of the consumer space and more into the business arena.
‘Vodafone consumer was only a small part of our offering generally.
Dextra has appeared to be slower to switch to the business market compared to rivals.
Marsh added: ‘Our airtime strategy is very much focused on the business market. That is very much the future and is not just our strategy, but reflects that of everyone else. That is the way the market is shifting.’
Dextra had previously been the only distributor to have a post pay consumer deal with all the networks.
But bosses denied losing that position was a symbolic blow saying that no distributor has deals with all the networks and that Vodafone is not expected to use the independent channel anymore for consumer post pay.
Sales director Angie Simpson said: ‘We are still one of the largest pre pay suppliers to Vodafone.
‘This isn’t something against Dextra, it isn’t a case of us losing and someone else gaining from this.'
Dextra losing its Vodafone post pay licence is a second blow to parent company 20:20 Mobile in a matter of weeks after Samsung dropped them as a supplier because of issues around grey market purchasing.