BT to rue O2 spin-off

THERE HAVE been many rumours that established UK ISP, Pipex, is up for grabs. Back in February, The Business printed the rumour that BT was interested in acquiring the company. But O2 may snatch it.

Recently 02 (pronounced Oh DOS), has told the FT that it is definitely going to "go down the DSL route". Sadly the Pink One didn't manage to get O2 chairman, Peter Erskine, to elaborate on exactly how it was doing this.

Meanwhile there have been reports, chiefly in the Sunday Telegraph, that Vodafone is interested in buying another ISP, Tiscali. Subsequently, more rumours have slipped out that O2 is interested in either Pipex or Plusnet.

They have all missed the point. Erskine was formerly at BT, until the powers-that-be within BT thought it would be a jolly good idea to spin off the former BT Cellnet as O2.

So Erskine could well be contemplating thumbing his nose at BT and snatching Pipex from the former Brit telecoms duopoly. Better still, O2 could use the coffers of its new parent - Spain's Telefonica - to acquire Britain's leading DSL provider.

That would be BT, then. µ