Sky is believed to have approached O2’s owner about launching its own mobile offering on its network.
If successful, the negotiations with Telefónica would see the British-based company selling a mobile package that uses O2’s infrastructure.
The news, which City A.M attributes to a source close to the negotiations, comes during a turbulent period of mergers and acquisitions in the telecoms industry. On Friday, it was announced that O2 itself would be purchased by Three owner Hutchinson Whampoa.
With BT hoping to acquire UK mobile operator EE, the discussions are possibly a defensive move. The deal with EE would allow BT, currently lacking a mobile offering in the UK, to offer its own quad-play package of home phone, broadband, TV and mobile – leaving Sky as the only broadband provider unable to do the same.
The talks are reported to still be in the early stages.
