3 has beaten 02 in the bid to create the affinity partnership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
The deal will allow the 100,000 members of the ICAEW to get 3 business packages at a discounted rate.
The institute have said that 3’s innovative proposition won them the contract and hope that this will be the beginning of a long partnership.
3 will now begin a 12 month marketing plan with the ICAEW to promote awareness of the partnership.
Experts also believe that the deal was helped by the mobile phone operators recent dealing with the Orange and T-mobile partnership (Anywhere,Everywhere) which is thought to have given 3 some network bandwidth, leading to more reliability.
The network has also recently created a package for businesses that receive funding from The Prince’s Trust, offering them a 24 month mobile package at a discounted rate and free mobile data. The reason for the venture 3 say is the rewards the company will get from helping the disadvantaged youths the trust works with.
3’s head of sales Paul Foley said:
‘Three Business is uniquely focussed on providing the best possible deals for small businesses, so working with The Prince’s Trust to benefit the young entrepreneurs they support makes sense.’