Orange may acquire AOL UK

A REPORT in the Sunday Telegraph claims that Orange/Wanadoo - operated by France Telecom, should win the auction to buy AOL's UK internet business.

The paper believes that the bid from Orange is motivated by fear of the prospect of arch rival, BSkyB, getting hold of it.

However, the INQ believes that Orange would be well aware of the chaos that is surrounding the Carphone Warehouse's offer of free broadband for those on its Talk Talk fixed line service.

Mobile magazine reports that waiting times at the Carphone's dedicated Talk Talk call centres have typically reached 45 minutes. It also claims that new customers trying to get the free internet service may have to wait up to two months for the connexion to go live.

To avoid a similar situation happening with its Wanadoo internet service - now re-branded Orange - France Telecom may be keen to acquire extra capacity through the AOL acquisition.

The INQ recently tried to subscribe to Orange's free broadband service but Orange claimed the handset which it desired as an upgrade - the Nokia N70 - was currently out of stock. The company's IVR system doesn't exactly make the upgrade to broadband easy.

For example, the literature says a customer must have a tariff of at least £30 per month. But that figure is including tax (VAT). So if your tariff is £29 per month (before tax), you actually qualify.

The Carphone Warehouse is known to have bid for AOL UK, but probably concluded that merging it with its own internet business - Opal Telecom - would be too tricky. Opal recently revealed that it has added some 340,000 new users since the free broadband offer first appeared in April. µ