Orange beefs up high street presence with HMV

hmv

Orange In Deal With Hmv

UK mobile operator Orange is set to increase its presence on the high street through a deal with retail giant HMV.

This week the carrier, owned by France Telecom, announced a deal that will see Orange products and services sold in selected HMV stores across the UK.

Orange will roll out ‘show and sell’ spaces with a focus on mobile music, games and video capable handsets and services.

A first wave of up to 15 concession stores will be rolled out from June 2009, with the HMV stores in Glasgow, Plymouth and Teesside earmarked as the first to get a presence from Orange, although around 100 locations have been earmarked to take the same approach by Christmas.

Orange said the deal will help it grow its multimedia and entertainment services, with non-voice services currently accounting for 24 per cent of Orange UK revenues.

The deal should also benefit HMV, which is currently reaping the rewards of the demise of high street rivals Woolworths and Zavvi, sparking fears that demand for physical media such as CDs and DVDs is weakening.