O2 to take on BT landlines

BT OFFSPRING O2 is to go head to head with its former parent by movng into UK fixed-line services.

In a conference call this morning, O2 chief executive Peter Erskine said it was likely to move into the field through a purchase.

"We do believe, although convergence has been talked about for many years, it's now what customers will want," he said, according to a Reuters report..

"We are playing all the horses and working out which is the one for the short term and the long term," he added, hedging his bets somewhat.

Creating a perfect symmetry, O2's interest in BT comes as BT is threatening to tread on O2 toes, after yesterday detailing plans for a business fixed-mobile convergence service that would support cellular/WiFi handsets. µ