JAS84 wrote:Alexia wrote:So, less than ten years after it fled the mobile market like a pig from a gun, BT are gunning for EE, which has only recently rebranded from Orange/T-Mobile.
All this to fulfil their lofty aim to deliver the UK's second-best quad-play service. How the mighty have fallen.
Why didn't they go for O2 instead, which they used to own when it was called Cellnet?
Just to add to what Alexia said, there are two main reasons for BT choosing EE instead of O2.
First, O2 has greater debt commitments than EE, which is part of the reason Telefónica has been looking to offload it. BT probably could have picked up O2 for a lower price than EE, but it would also have to manage those debts in the future.
The second reason is two-fold: EE has a much larger customer base, along with the largest 4G network - not just in terms of subscribers, but also in terms of raw network infrastructure upgraded to support 4G LTE connectivity. That means BT will have to invest less in building out the remainder of its 4G network, while already enjoying the largest 3G and 4G subscriber base.
EE is the obvious choice in many ways - but it's also likely to be much harder to get regulatory approval, since the largest fixed-line telephony and broadband provider will be seeking to acquire the largest mobile network (with 33.8% of the UK market). Ofcom is likely to have something to say about that.
