BT Mulls a Return to the UK Mobile Market

The UK's dominant landline operator, British Telecom (BT) is reported to be considering a return to the mobile market in an effort to boost profits by taping the growing market for combined home broadband/mobile services.

The firm was the majority shareholder in UK mobile network, Cellnet (now O2), but sold it in 2001 to pay down debts which were built up during the earlier telecoms bubble.

The company has run an MVNO in cooperation with Vodafone, but never put significant resources behind the operation. The Guardian newspaper is now reporting that the firm is in talks to set up a joint venture with T-Mobile and Hutchison 3G UK.

The move could also fuel rumours that Hutchison Whampoa is looking to sell its mobile division - which has built up considerable losses since it was launched as a 3G only network. The company has refuted previous rumours of a trade sale, but was forced to scale back plans for a stock-market floatation.

On the web: The Guardian

Posted to the site on 26th January 2009