Troubled UK grocery giant Tesco will sell off its mobile business as part of a move to cut £22 billion of debt.
Running on O2’s network, the MVNO (mobile virtual operator) offers 99 percent coverage to its 4 million customers. O2 owns a 50 percent share in the business, and could be first in line to purchase the remaining share from Tesco.
The supermarket gained notoriety last year over an accounting scandal during the tenure of former head Philip Clark. New CEO Dave Lewis is currently pushing through a cost-cutting drive which includes selling off assets and closing stores.
Tesco has already sold its Blinkbox video TV service to TalkTalk and plans to sell off many of its stores across the country.
Tesco Mobile is one of many non-core businesses still run by the company, with Tesco Bank also boasting a large number of customers.