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LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The board of BT met onTuesday to discuss the possible acquisition of British mobileoperators O2 or EE, and agreed to continue talks with bothsides, a person familiar with the situation said.
The BT board meeting was a regularly scheduled one, said thesource, and had not been especially convened to discuss thetakeover options. BT is hoping to make a decision within thenext 10 days.
The telecoms group has been in talks with O2's ownerTelefonica and with the parent firms of Britain'slargest mobile carrier EE, France's Orange andGermany's Deutsche Telekom , about a deal.
The move would turn BT into a powerhouse not only infixed-line broadband, but also mobile, at a possible cost ofbetween 9 billion pounds ($14.1 billion) and 11 billion pounds.
BT's choice to buy Britain's number one or two mobileoperators will come down to whether it wants to stretch to buyEE, a higher quality, larger company, or take the lower risk,simpler option presented by 02, people close to the situationearlier told Reuters.
At issue is not only the price the seller wants but also thestructure, with regard to cash or shares or even asset swaps,and whether BT would undertake a rights issue, the people said.
One person involved in the talks said BT buying O2 was theeasier deal since it was smaller and there was only one sellerand not two as for EE. Telefonica is also eager to sell becauseit needs to cut debt.
EE is the leader in 4G superfast mobile however and could bemore in line with BT's push into fast fibre services.
BT, Telefonica, Orange and Deutsche Telekom declined tocomment.
BT's foray into mobile is expected to tilt the UK telecomsmarket towards all-inclusive bundles of fixed and mobilecalling, broadband and TV, now common elsewhere in Europe.
Shares in the group have risen 9 percent since the talkswere revealed on Nov. 24 and BT was given a further boost onMonday when Woodford Investment Management, run by 'star'manager Neil Woodford, said it was incredibly supportive of amobile deal.
The manoeuvring has galvanised mobile rivals such asVodafone and Hutchison Whampoa's Three intoactively looking for deals or partnerships. ($1 = 0.6389 pounds) (Reporting by Kate Holton and Freya Berry; writing by LeilaAbboud; Editing by Keith Weir, Louise Heavens and Susan Thomas)
