Not satisfied with its success in marketing grocery, Tesco is now gunning for a piece of the mobile broadband pie. The company has announced that it would double the number of in-store mobile shops, which offer mobile phones and mobile broadband packages.

The company plans to increase the number of these outlets from 41 to 100 by December 2009. This expansion is part of a strategic move by Tesco, which plans to increase its profit from non-core areas of business, such as telecom and banking, to £1 billion per annum.

Tesco is already the third-largest retailer in Europe, which shows its massive reach. An increase in the number of their telecom stores may well signal a shift in the behaviour of UK broadband consumers and initiate a rivalry between Tesco and Carphone Warehouse, another mobile retailer (click to compare mobile internet).

Shaun Collins, one of the analysts at CCS Insight telecoms consultancy, comments that Tesco’s excellent reach, loyal customer base, and thorough customer research will benefit the company in this endeavour.

However, Collins also warns that though this move is strategically significant, it is not on a large enough scale. Thus, it is unlikely that the mobile broadband retail sector will be transformed anytime soon, which means that Carphone Warehouse, the current leader in this field with 900 stores all over the UK, can still reign safely for a while.

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- Posted in Consumism, Internet Technology Resources, Telecommunication Management 

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