 Sky packages come to ‘Wireless World’ stores
Carphone Warehouse will start trialling Sky TV and broadband in four stores next week.
The first batch of Sky services will be added to Carphone’s new wireless world stores in White City, Romford, Bristol and Portsmouth, and will gradually extend to more stores that are to take on the new format.
One Carphone source said: ‘If you look at what we’re trying with wireless world, they’re just screaming out to have Sky. It’s the perfect kind of environment for Sky’s propositions.’
A spokesman for the retailer confirmed the trials were going ahead.
The store format is a central pillar in Carphone’s 2009 retail strategy.
The retailer has been in talks for months about bringing Sky’s products into its stores. Carphone addressed concerns from the group that it was, in fact, a competitor, given its important telecoms business through the TalkTalk and AOL brands.
The retailer recently announced plans to make a clear split between the telecoms and retail businesses, with the likely prospect of the two becoming completely separate companies.
Sky TV was sold by Carphone several years ago, around the time Sky was competing with ITV’s now defunct OnDigital.
Phones 4u is already piloting Sky in 61 of its stores, following a long drawn-out trial in the West Midlands, after the retailer originally said it was going to be made available in over 300 of its stores by the end of next year. Phones 4u has since said it can no longer confirm it will reach that target. Trials first started back in January this year.
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