Not so long ago, Southwestern Bell Corp was boasting of the way it had sold 1m of its Freedom Phones in two years the US, and was committed to achieving a similar level of success in the UK (CI No 1,270). Not too much has been heard from the Southwestern Bell Telecom (UK) Ltd unit since then – until this week, when news comes through that it has been sold to Audioline Ltd on undisclosed terms. The company justifies the sale by saying that it positions us to concentrate on our rapidly-growing cable television and cable telecommunications, our core strategic businesses in the UK. It currently serves nearly 55,000 cable customers in Britain, 16,000 of whom also subscribe to phone service over the cable line. Southwestern Bell Telecom UK makes corded and cordless phones, answering machines and pay phones. Under licensing agreements along with the sale, Audioline will continue to use the Bell symbol and the Southwestern Bell Telecom and Freedom Phone brand names in marketing the equipment. Southwestern Bell will remain involved in the design and quality review of the equipment. The agreement also allows Audioline to develop new products for marketing under the Southwestern Bell name in Britain. Audioline was previously best known for its answering machines and its Moss Security car alarm businesses.
