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Yep BT, but service is under small business customer.
Good discussion folks, last week I had a call from BT asking whether I wanted to move my PSTN onto VoIP, as line had been digitised and was giving free equipment such as the VoIP phone plus other goodies, he also reduced my broadband by a nominal amount, all seemed good until he said he was tying me into a 5 year/60 month term. End of conversation.
Cont……..
Cityfibre and other alt nets fear they are under threat from planned wholesale price cuts by Openreach, which they say will undercut them by locking customers into longer deals.
On Friday, Ofcom said it was extending its investigation into the price plan – dubbed Equinox II – following a backlash over comments made by BT chief executive Philip Jansen.
VMO2 and Cityfibre declined to comment.
Ah ha! Fridays fall now makes more sense.
Swoop for the loss-making business would help the broadband giant expand its network.
Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) is exploring a takeover bid for challenger broadband provider Cityfibre that could be worth up to £3bn.
Initial talks have taken place between Mike Fries, chief executive of Virgin Media O2 parent company Liberty Global, and Cityfibre boss Greg Mesch over a potential tie-up, The Telegraph has learnt.
Cityfibre is the largest of the so-called “alt net” broadband providers, reaching around 2 million homes with its full fibre broadband. It hopes to reach 8 million properties by 2025.
A swoop for the loss-making business would help Virgin Media O2 expand its network and meet its target of upgrading its entire network to full fibre. An estimated 50pc of Cityfibre’s network overlaps with Virgin Media O2’s.
Virgin Media O2, which is jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefonica, is understood to be working with bankers at US-based LionTree to explore potential deals for a number of other smaller alt nets.
It comes amid growing pressure on broadband firms, as inflation makes the cost of expanding their networks more expensive……….
Faster-than-expected rollout of BT’s Openreach network is also making it harder to compete.
One source said Cityfibre, which is backed by Goldman Sachs, could command a price tag of more than £3bn.
Cityfibre raised £4.9bn in debt financing last summer and has established a strong position in the market, providing services to telecoms providers including Vodafone and TalkTalk.
However, the company last month announced plans to cut up to 400 jobs – or a fifth of its workforce – in a bid to cut costs. It lost almost £50m in 2021.
James Barford, head of telecoms research at Enders Analysis, said Cityfibre’s scale made it attractive to VMO2 as any integration costs would be spread over a larger base.
But he warned any tie-up would face scrutiny from competition regulators due to “significant overlap” between the two companies’ networks.
A person close to the discussions said any transaction could take place through Liberty, which is chaired by “cable cowboy” John Malone, its full-fibre joint venture Nexfibre or a new separate entity, as well as VMO2.
They added that a transaction could include debt, but that Liberty had a cash pile of $3.5bn (£2.9bn) that it was ready to use.
Earlier this year, Liberty chief Mr Fries said the company would pursue an “opportunistic” policy towards potential acquisitions.
However, John Karidis, a telecoms analyst at Numis, said VMO2 was negotiating from a “position of weakness”.
He pointed to the fact that much of VMO2’s existing broadband network is cable, rather than full-fibre, as well as an almost 25pc decline in Liberty’s share price over the last year.
Cityfibre and other alt nets fear they are under threat from planned wholesale price cuts by Openreach, which they say will undercut them by
First things first Rodney. We need the £5 by Xmas before any more prophecies.
Phatboy, you’re clearly not anywhere near the use of a foodbank or suffering from a cost of living crisis or needing a 10% plus pay rise (as you had us believe) if you are able to cream off £1200 from your nett pay in buying shares held in trust for 5 years
I read earlier that Comcast had written down Skys valuation by 25% from $39b when purchased 4 years ago to just over $30b. A reduction of $8.6b. Seems all isn’t going well with Glass and pay for TV, through streaming. Looking to sell some of Skys European entities that mirror UK’s offering, namely Sky Italy after they lost Serie A, they lost out to DAZN.
We rarely see BT defend itself, or dispel negative media guff.
Spoons………..“However, I always attempt to sit as far away as possible from the other clientele, as they tend to burp, pass wind, swear and steal my chips.” That’ll be the CWU in one of their rare, leisurely quiet moments.
……Or the backend of a pantomime horse. We want old Rodney out of retirement.
Indeed Poker, maybe he can call his party The CarlttTrap Party.
Voting Monster Raving Loony Party would just make so much more sense.
CarlTT, did you get out of the wrong bed this morning, never mind side.
Isn’t Christmas the time Porsche gets visited by 3 ghosts.
Welcome back BP.
So much for the shareprice being influenced by the strike action. Since the resolution with the CWU, there’s been no joy.
For those that don’t have ISA stocks and share accounts, it’s never too late, if you open one each for you and spouse you can transfer in £20k each per tax year until 5th April and then same again for next tax year starting 6th April. So £80k in the next 5months or so. And Cap gains and divs are tax free. You can substitute selling shares in your dealing account with buying shares in your ISA account, it’ll cost you trading costs but it will help you crystallise protection on your gains when the BT share price hits £3.
“ Probably lost forever. They will never reinstate that allowance”
I’d say you’re correct OuterMilan, certainly for seven years anyway, I’d guess Labour will be in No10 (sorry Rod) in a couple of years and Ms Reeves won’t be entertaining such ideas.
Fleccy, “Hopefully not until the end of February 2023, by then my BT and Vodafone divi's will landed in the ISA's and reinvested.”
Interesting! Why not hope the SP goes up nicely and spend your hard earned dividends, and live a little. Ask, why everybody is talking about Machu Picchu?
Rod, “ Think we can look forward to far fewer people coming out if there is another strike call. Divide and conquer. Brilliant move by the company and its brilliant CEO, The Lord Jansen of Aldgate.”
Divide and conquer, master stroke by Phil. I would say some of the lower paid team members would be happy to call it a day, as money will be tight and this payment will be just the ticket plus the back payment pay rise to April “catch up” will be very useful. I’ll just pop down to Waitrose and buy a lettuce to gauge how long CWUs fight will endure.
BeeTee and AP, I think the article is economical with the truth. It seems the CWU have asked BT for a audience and get round the table.
From the DT today,
“But here’s the bit that the CWU won’t want its members to hear – support for its strike campaign has been nothing like as widespread as it might have hoped. Of the 40,000 BT workers that the CWU claims to “proudly represent”, it is estimated that the highest turnout was less than 24,000, equivalent to just two thirds of the membership base.
What’s more, the numbers have been tailing off, falling by an estimated 20pc between the first day of action in July and the eighth and final day at the end of October to just 19,000 – less than half the BT membership.
The reason for this is blisteringly obvious: as soaring energy bills and spikes in mortgage costs exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis for millions, frontline workers cannot afford to keep voluntarily forgoing pay.
The CWU has emphatically rejected the suggestion that some members have lost the stomach for a fight, lambasting “the folly of senior management” for presuming “that battle fatigue and financial pressures would sap the will of employees to continue fighting for a fair pay rise,” as industrial action came to an end.
Like Williams, Philip Jansen too is refusing to budge. Talks with the unions about this year’s pay deal would not be reopened, he told The Telegraph. Jansen said “the matter is closed” and insisted BT’s 5pc average pay offer was “market leading” when it was made in April.
The message may finally be getting through to the CWU, which responded by saying that it was “seeking a resolution to the dispute” and is hopeful of further meetings next week.
Not for the first time, the unions look to have overplayed their hand in their attempts to hold the country to ransom.
“ An 82% reduction in properties should knock a sizeable chunk off the lease liabilities and therefore the Net Debt.”
……and energy costs Fleccy. The big ticket item at the moment.