Alternative British broadband provider BSkyB is reportedly mulling its options for a possible entry to the country’s mobile voice sector. According to Dow Jones Newswires, citing local broadsheet The Sunday Times, the operator has conducted talks with Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between cellcos Orange UK and T-Mobile UK, regarding the possibility of bidding for a batch of spectrum in the 1800MHz band that the merged entity will put up for sale in order to meet the terms of regulatory approval for its tie-up.
With such spectrum possibly allowing for the launch of a 4G network, the report claims that BSkyB’s move underscores its efforts to further enhance its existing product offerings, which already include fixed line broadband, fixed voice and satellite pay-TV. Meanwhile, although the operator is thought to be able to afford the GBP3 billion-GBP4 billion (USD4.69 billion-USD6.26 billion) asking price for the frequencies, The Sunday Times did note that, according to its unnamed sources, BSkyB’s interest in making an offer had cooled since meeting with Morgan Stanley, which is handling the sale for Everything Everywhere.