CURRYS PLC LONDON (Reuters) - Dixons Carphone (>> Dixons Carphone PLC), Europe's largest electrical goods and phones retailer, and UK energy supplier SSE (>> SSE PLC) have formed a strategic partnership to provide "connected home" services to a combined UK customer base of 10 million households, they said on Wednesday.
The companies said they saw a vast opportunity from not just selling connected devices - those linked-up to the Internet - but also from installing, servicing, monitoring and controlling them.
They said the venture will provide customers with support and services to manage devices in their homes "from boilers to laptops, dishwashers to wifi."
"Customers will be able to control connected devices in the home, purchase a wide range of recommended products, arrange installation of smart thermostats or security systems, get peace of mind cover and help to troubleshoot technical and maintenance issues," Dixons and SSE said in a joint statement.
The venture will be able to make use of 4,000 engineers and technical advisers and operate out of 1,200 stores.
Will Morris, SSE's managing director retail, told Reuters it was the "one-stop shop" element that made the venture very different from anything else currently in the market.
"I think this is going to transform how quickly homes across the UK can get connected," said Andrew Harrison, deputy CEO of Dixons Carphone.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Dixons Carphone is scheduled to publish first-half results at 0700 GMT on Wednesday.
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
