British telecom operator TalkTalk Group PLC said on Friday it would like to lease out its fixed-line network to bigger wireless rival Vodafone PLC.
Such a “wholesale” deal would allow Vodafone to fill gaps in its coverage Talk Talk Chief Executive Dido Harding said. The mobile operator is preparing to offer consumer fixed-phone, broadband and, eventually, television services in the U.K. in the spring of next year
“[I would be] delighted to have a wholesale conversation with Vodafone,” Ms. Harding said at a telecom, media and technology summit.
A spokesman for Vodafone said the operator is open to talk about the matter with all interested parties.
Vodafone is currently using infrastructure acquired with its takeover of Cable & Wireless as well as capacity leased from former U.K. telecom monopoly BT but Talk Talk reckons that it isn’t enough if Vodafone wants to have national fixed-line coverage.
“Vodafone’s current Cable & Wireless network covers roughly 50% of the country, but not in a nice geographic group, so they are going to need to have a network across the rest of the country,” Ms. Harding said.
TalkTalk recently struck a deal with Telefónica ’s U.K. business to access its wireless networks.
The U.K. industry remains highly competitive as telecom, Internet and television services converge. Competitors include Liberty Global PLC’s Virgin Media, BT and EE, a joint venture between Orange SA and Deutsche Telekom AG, as well as pay-TV giant British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC.
Ms. Harding said Talk Talk, which has £1.7 billion ($2.7 billion) in annual revenue, has no plans to buy mobile assets of its own. In five years time the company might be in the market for additional radio spectrum to give an added boost to the business, she said.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/articles/talktalk-would-like-vodafone-network-deal-1416574416
