back to article BT in talks to re-slurp O2 after spitting it out a decade ago

BT could be the new owner of Blighty mobe network O2 if talks with Spanish parent Telefonica go well. The ex-national telco has confirmed the talks, which were first reported on Spanish website El Confidencial. Sources told the site that Telefonica was keen on selling O2 to British Telecom in return for a 20 per cent stake in …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lets face it, they can't make it any worse.

    1. NotWorkAdmin

      I wouldn't want to bet on that.

      But I'm not even sure what you mean anyway. I jumped from Vodafone to O2 2 years ago and for my troubles have had better coverage and lower pricing. I honestly can't think of anything to complain about. Then again, I'm old fashioned. My primary concern with a cellular network provider is my ability to make actual phone calls.

      1. AMBxx Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: I wouldn't want to bet on that.

        Me too - as a business customer, I get great customer service.

        Wortried abotu this BT stuff

      2. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: I wouldn't want to bet on that.

        They are abominable for data.

        I have both O2 (business tariff) and GiffGaff personal.

        The 3G or 4G is equally frustrating for both.

        1. Fiddler on the roof

          Re: I wouldn't want to bet on that.

          That's because they are the same network :)

          1. werdsmith Silver badge

            Same Network

            Yes, I should have elaborated that there is a lot of speculation that O2 customers get prioritised ahead of giffgaff ones, but in my experience the O2 data is just as bad.

    2. CPE Bach

      Really?????????????????????

  2. Philippe

    This is the stuff of nightmare.

    O2 might not be the "best" network any longer but at least their customer service still got legs.

    Bringing BT bureaucracy to O2 could create the biggest pain in the arse of a network the world has ever seen.

    Hopefully this won't happen.

    1. Chad H.

      Re: This is the stuff of nightmare.

      >>>>>O2 might not be the "best" network any longer but at least their customer service still got legs.

      O2 Don't have a customer service department. They sold that to Capita.

      >>>>>>Bringing BT bureaucracy to O2 could create the biggest pain in the arse of a network the world has ever seen.

      It never really left them. Try as much as they wanted, it was always in the DNA.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: This is the stuff of nightmare.

      We've got a corporate account with O2 with thousands of mobiles. O2's Customer Service may not be perfect, but it's way, way better than anything BT have ever done. What BT would do to O2 is making me nervous.

      I do hope this BT/O2 deal falls through. The only people who will benefit will be lawyers, accountants and the top tables at BT & O2. Everyone else will suffer.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    on the cards

    I have worked in an O2 call centre for many years (Pre and Post BT ownership). All I can say is that a lot of people have felt this move coming for a long time. The writing was on the wall when Telefonica ditched broadband. Once it was apparent that they were not interested in growing the business, it has been apparent that all of the moves they make are to make the business easier to offload.

    There has been a steady drain of resources and people and there are few good ideas as to what to do next. This news will be music to Cesar Alierta's ears; How to gracefully slip out of the UK market. Shame there will be a lot of jobs put at risk if it does happen though.

  4. Bloodbeastterror

    Oh God no...!

    That bunch of shambling incompetents? There goes my Giffgaff service then...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It’s not so long ago that...

    …BT was telling the world that if they’d learned anything over the last hundred years it was that running networks was a mug’s game and they wanted fewer of them, not more. Mobile services would be bought in, à la the Voda and EE MVNO deals, that was the smart thing to do.

    Having said that, if O2 (and EE) are prostrating themselves at Buzby’s feet to be the cheapest network on the block in a desperate Dutch auction, BT’s exit from mobile may not have been the strategic blunder business schools teach it as, but a texbook example of selling high and buying low.

    1. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge

      Funny old world

      It's just one giant game of "chicken". Customers choose suppliers purely on price. Providers start race to bottom, only to jump out before impact. After the dust settles, remaining providers buy the rubble and start building again. Customers change to new provider because they're even cheaper, then complain about even more dropped calls and worse customer service. Rinse & repeat.

    2. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: It’s not so long ago that...

      We shouldn't forget the environment that BT, as owner of mmO2 operated in. There was much talk about BT's monopoly position in the fixed and mobile telecoms market and hence extending the regulatory constraints at the time. So BT got out of mobile focused on fixed line and allowed the duopoly restrictions lapse. Now the market has changed, it makes sense for them to once again become a full service telecoms provider without overt government interference.

  6. Roland6 Silver badge

    And who is the other MNO?

    "We have received expressions of interest from shareholders in two UK mobile network operators, of which one is O2, about a possible transaction in which BT would acquire their UK mobile business,"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And who is the other MNO?

      That’s no secret, it’s EE.

      1. Roland6 Silver badge

        Re: And who is the other MNO?

        EE hasn't been officially confirmed, unless you know different - hence AC...

        http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/bt-early-deal-talks-ee-amid-confirming-telefonica-plans-sell-o2-1476282

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    as a BT shareholder its a good idea and a bargain if the suggested prices of £10Bn for 80% of O2 is to be believed.

    It was a big feck up pulling out of the mobile market in the first place. Up there with other feck ups like missing the boat with broadband (remember customers having to take part in a sort of vote to get their exchange broadband enabled!) madness think how much business they lost because of that brain cell of an idea

  8. Jan 0 Silver badge

    mmm

    If BT does acquire O2, will the name be rolled back to mmO2 again?

    1. werdsmith Silver badge

      Re: mmm

      BTCellnet

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Awful

    Just got our of bed with BT... or so I thought. "Lost" my record of them cancelling service.

    Absolute bastards

  10. Chad H.

    >>>>"We have received expressions of interest from shareholders in two UK mobile network operators, of which one is O2, about a possible transaction in which BT would acquire their UK mobile business," the company said in a statement.

    So who is the other one?

    VodaFail are trying to get shot of their Australian holdings, but I can't see them getting rid of their home market.

    EE is part owned by DT and Orange/FranceTelecom. Not particularly attractive if only one is trying to sell, and not the other.

    That leaves Three, who sold off their Australian arm already to Vodafail....

  11. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Good news for the bankers

    Who'll stand to earn yet again.

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      Re: Good news for the bankers

      You should start a crowd funding drive to raise money to buy O2...

      Obviously if you do this I get 20% for giving you the idea in the first place.

  12. AMBxx Silver badge

    Someone help me out

    I thought BT were creating a nationwide wifi network, then planning to hang mobile phones off it, What happened to that?

    1. Chad H.

      Re: Someone help me out

      They're waiting for the OpenReach man to come and hook them up. He was supposed to be there between 9 and 1, but all he did was note the colour of the door and tell Master Control there was noone home.

  13. s. pam Silver badge
    WTF?

    Fook me

    oh happy funking days, I just renewed my contract with O2. I would give BT a roll of bum wipe unless it was on a poo stick...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Fook me

      would give BT a roll of bum wipe unless it was on a poo stick...

      you could care less

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Get ready for another price hike- guys.

    How do you think will this whole deal be funded ?

    The shareholders will be baying for blood ( return on investment) from day one.

    And then to learn that TalkTalk have ditched Vodafone and use O2 as the carrier. SO more misery for TT customers too.

    Swings and Roundabouts. Price rises guaranteed. Wankers and Bankers. Perfect bedfellows.

  15. RonWheeler

    Good

    Maybe they'll honour my pay upfront for life package bundled with the Nokia 3310 bought off Cellnet- a package which O2 have been trying to weasel out of for the past 10 years.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Good

      I still use my good old PUFFL sim too (no longer use the 3310, though it's sill in a drawer as a backup!).

      O2 have never tried to weasel out on me ... quite the opposite, in fact; if one is au fait with manually creating APN's on a smartphone, the O2 wap gateway is your friend ... free calls AND free unlimited data for life, whats not to like, best £100 I ever spent ;-)

      As long as BT don't mess up the excellent Tu Go service, I will be happy.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Now those odd 4G spectrum bids make sense

    Back when the 4G auctions finished, the two big questions were:

    “How are O2 going to cope long-term, having bought only 800MHz spectrum and no high-capacity 2.6GHz spectrum?”

    And

    “How are BT going to roll out a network with only 2.6GHz spectrum, but no lower-frequency spectrum or existing 2G/3G network?”

    Now we have our answer.

  17. Otto is a bear.

    BT Need to be back in the mobile game

    Whatever we might think of BT, their long term future will require them to be in the mobile telephony market. Fixed line as a personal method of communication is dying, which leaves BT as a data provider between wireless links, a far less profitable, and more controlled market.

    Buying back O2 or even Three makes sense. As for customer service, well they are as good or bad as the vast majority of infrastructure providers, mostly I've found it depends on the person on the other end of the support call and the time it takes to reach them. I've had brilliant service from O2, Vodaphone, Virgin, and BT, and I've also had complete and utter crap.

    I doubt the ownership of either of these companies will make a lot of difference, mind you if BT can get O2 back for less than they paid for it, go UK PLC.

    I would also expect Ofcom, yet again to decide at the 5GL auction to opt for new entrants to enhance competition, as they seem to like to have more players than the market can support.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Emergency Services

    Haven't O2 and BT both bid on Lot3 of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme? This would obviously play into BT's hands. And considering they probably manage the vast majority of the backhaul could make them the prime bidder by default...

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