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O2 shows rival Voda the way

31 Jul 2008


O2 took the mobile phone wars to Vodafone today, saying it cannot understand why Voda is claiming it is being hit by the economic downturn.

Spanish-owned O2 said it has picked up 274,500 new customers in the UK over the past three months, has seen average customer spend increase by 2% and the number of people quitting its network dwindle.

The figures come a week after Vodafone reported a downturn which it blamed on the economy, the return of migrant workers to their homelands and the crash in the construction industry. Matthew Key, chief executive of O2 parent Telefonica Europe, said: "It is all about product," citing the success of its exclusive deal on the iPhone and its innovative Simplicity contract, which ties up customers for only 30 days at a time.

"Simplicity and its rolling 30-day contract is a reaction to where the economy is at the moment," said Key. "Clearly the economy is an issue at present but our figures show we are proving resilient."

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