News on BT's plan to re-enter the mobile market that it quit more than a decade ago after selling off its mobile operations, Cellnet which was later renamed as O2 in 2001, has definitely sparked lots of interest among the telecom circles and the public, especially in the UK. BT's plan to offer quad-play services bundling together landline, mobile, internet and TV services will necessitate the group to court either Telefonica which owns O2 or Deutche Telekom/Orange, the holding companies for EE.
BT was gearing to return to the mobile market next year via a wholesale deal with EE. The former state-owned monopoly's recent positive financial standing and high share value has led to it reassessing its position in the UK mobile market.
The operator in its response to the recent speculation in the press relating to its plans to acquire O2 said that the group has received expression of interest from shareholders of O2 and EE. BT however, said that all discussions are still preliminary and it is too early to confirm if these transactions will materialize.
The press however, continues to report on BT's impending re-entry to the mobile scene, speculating that the service provider is close to closing a deal with Telefonica to buy back O2. According to the Telegraph UK, the BT-O2 deal would see Telefonica walking away with a 20pc stake in BT after relinquishing its stake in O2 for around £9bn. The Daily Mail UK quoted a £10 billion price tag for the transaction.
- BT started its wireless journey back in January 1985 when it teamed up with Securicor to launch a mobile joint venture, Cellnet. BT acquired Securicor’s 40% stake in Cellnet for £3.17 billion in 1999 and rebranded the company as BT Cellnet. It was in 2001 that BT Cellnet was spinned off from the BT group, and in 2002, the company was relaunched as O2. It was subsequently acquired by Telefónica for £17.7 billion in 2005.
