T-Mobile and Tele2 are now called Odido. But why?

Six million Dutch people saw the name of their telephone network change from T-Mobile or Tele2 to Odido on Tuesday. It was not a hack or a joke, but the unannounced name change of the largest mobile provider in the Netherlands. This new name and brand strategy is a first, necessary step towards a possible IPO.

The network provider has been owned by two private equity investors, Apax and Warburg Pincus, since 2022. They paid the previous owner, Deutsche Telekom, 5.1 billion euros for the network and also acquired the right to use the brand names ‘T-Mobile’ (German) and ‘Tele2’ (Swedish) for another five years. To ultimately enable an IPO or sale, as is customary in private equity, a future-proof brand name is a prerequisite. It takes time for such a blank name to land with the general public. That is why T-Mobile is already renaming itself.

Telecom shops

Until Monday, T-Mobile Netherlands had four brands that all use the same network: T-Mobile, Tele2, Simpel and Ben. The two Dutch brand names – together good for a million users – will not change for the time being. For the name change, more than a hundred telecom shops are being converted, in secret. However, the name leaked to KPN earlier. That competitor got one practical joke and routed internet traffic via the Odido search terms in Google to the KPN site.

Odido is a new and self-invented word – a palindrome – that, according to the spokesperson for the telecom company, “has yet to be given substance”. This marketing strategy resembles the approach of cable company Ziggo, which in 2008 merged three different brand names under one new brand name. Warburg Pincus was also involved in Ziggo’s IPO in 2012. Ziggo was taken off the stock exchange after two years by the new owner Liberty Global.

Throttled speeds

Competing mobile providers Vodafone and KPN announced this week that they are increasing their rates by 10 and 8.4 percent respectively in connection with inflation. Odido offers its unlimited packages starting at 27.50, but with throttled speeds. The fastest mobile subscription can achieve transfer speeds of up to 1 Gbit per second, the provider promises. You pay almost 50 euros per month for this.