Fixed line phone operator BT is rumoured to be considering an expansion into the mobile arena by striking a joint venture with networks T-Mobile and 3.
Sources told The Observer newspaper that, while discussions between the three firms are at an early stage, BT shareholders are keen to reap the rewards of the UK's extremely competitive mobile market, as rising numbers of people make phone calls from their mobile handset rather than a fixed line.
The news comes eight years after BT sold its Cellnet mobile network in 2001 after running up debts of £30 billion on the company. Cellnet became O2, now one of the leading mobile network's in the country, which was bought by Spanish telecommunications firm Telefonica in 2007 for £18 billion.
Since then, BT has made another foray into the mobile phone market in the form of Fusion in 2005, through which customers were allowed free calls at home using BT broadband but switched to the Vodafone network after leaving their house. Poor take-up led to the eventual abandonment of this service. More recently, mobile operators like Orange and O2 have launched their own fixed line broadband services, and the popularity of networks' dongles (portable modems offering internet access) has soared.
Both of these features directly compete with BT. Reports indicate that T-Mobile - currently riding high due to the global success of the G1 - is interested in making a deal with BT in order to widen its business options in the UK. 3's owners - Hutchison Whampoa - however, may be less keen to do so due to a reluctance to sell.
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