AT&T Possible move to UK and Europe......If it's as bad as the US service, will it succeed?
AT&T sniffing around EE?
Originally Posted by call100:
“AT&T Possible move to UK and Europe......If it's as bad as the US service, will it succeed?”
“AT&T Possible move to UK and Europe......If it's as bad as the US service, will it succeed?”
I think it would be a good buy AT&T have loads of money to invest. I think they have learnt their ways in the us and are quickly changing and wouldn't make the mistakes as they did there in Europe.
Could be interesting... there was the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA which never ahead, maybe they'll do better in Europe?
There has been talk of EE being a target for a while, first a year ago http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2...ing-considered and then 6 months ago when a private equity consortium tried to buy it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...-8bn-deal.html
I actually can't see AT&T buying it, AT&T would be much more interested in O2 I think, as I would say they are the nearest you get to AT&T UK. EE is already on track and selling 4G.
The minute O2 gets a 4G license they might try and snap it up. However I'd say it's unlikely AT&T would buy into the UK, they don't have any interests in Europe that I know of and the UK is very competitive and different to the US market in many ways.
I actually can't see AT&T buying it, AT&T would be much more interested in O2 I think, as I would say they are the nearest you get to AT&T UK. EE is already on track and selling 4G.
The minute O2 gets a 4G license they might try and snap it up. However I'd say it's unlikely AT&T would buy into the UK, they don't have any interests in Europe that I know of and the UK is very competitive and different to the US market in many ways.
I have a feeling BT will re-enter the market. They keep everything quiet,you just never know.
How does Telefonica get away with running up a £58 billion debt, I mean 58 BILLION!!!!!!!!! even NTL wasn't that bad.
Other possible buyers for O2 and EE:
Telecom Italia
BT
IPM Group of italy
Verizon
Colt
Tata communications
Arquiva
Cable and Wireless Communications (Not the Vodafone one)
Apex partners
Hutchison Whampoa
Vodafone (Not EE but a merger with O2)
A merger between O2 and Vodafone in the UK and Germany would put them ahead of T-Mobile.
How does Telefonica get away with running up a £58 billion debt, I mean 58 BILLION!!!!!!!!! even NTL wasn't that bad.
Other possible buyers for O2 and EE:
Telecom Italia
BT
IPM Group of italy
Verizon
Colt
Tata communications
Arquiva
Cable and Wireless Communications (Not the Vodafone one)
Apex partners
Hutchison Whampoa
Vodafone (Not EE but a merger with O2)
A merger between O2 and Vodafone in the UK and Germany would put them ahead of T-Mobile.
Out of that list very few could take on the risk of the UK, margins are low as the prices are. BT could but remember they wanted out of the network market before for a reason.
Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan:
“Out of that list very few could take on the risk of the UK, margins are low as the prices are. BT could but remember they wanted out of the network market before for a reason.”
“Out of that list very few could take on the risk of the UK, margins are low as the prices are. BT could but remember they wanted out of the network market before for a reason.”
Agreed, and of course Hutchison are already here... could you imagine it - Three buying O2?!
As for AT&T though, their own network in the US is... ummm... hmmm. Why on earth would they take on another one - particularly in the UK market?
Originally Posted by lost boy:
“Agreed, and of course Hutchison are already here... could you imagine it - Three buying O2?!
”
“Agreed, and of course Hutchison are already here... could you imagine it - Three buying O2?!
”
You laugh but they publicly told Telefonica they would buy O2 Ireland, even though they own a 3 network there and just completed the purchase of Orange in Austria despite again already having a 3 network.
Hutchison Whampoa has extremely deep pockets, it owns the world's biggest port, is in water and electricity supply, retail outlets worldwide, in the UK companies like Superdrug and The Perfume Shop are Hutchison Whampoa owned. They have massive property developments worldwide and made a profit of £4.5bn last year. They employ 253,000 staff worldwide. If they wanted to they could.
It wouldn't be Three buying O2, it would be Hutchison Whampoa, former owners of Orange UK buying O2. When you look at it that way it sounds a lot more plausible, but still very unlikely.
The fascinating thing is the company chairman of Hutchison Whampoa is a self made man, a refugee who started from nothing and is now the richest Asian man in the world, with a personal wealth of £15BN.
His son owns PCCW who already operate business 4G services in the UK and are one of the bidders in the 4G auction this time round.
http://www.ukbroadband.com/4g-networks/our-4g-network
His son owns PCCW who already operate business 4G services in the UK and are one of the bidders in the 4G auction this time round.
http://www.ukbroadband.com/4g-networks/our-4g-network
Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan:
“Out of that list very few could take on the risk of the UK, margins are low as the prices are. BT could but remember they wanted out of the network market before for a reason.”
“Out of that list very few could take on the risk of the UK, margins are low as the prices are. BT could but remember they wanted out of the network market before for a reason.”
Shareholders in 2001 voted to off load BT's mobile and Manx Telecom across Europe because it was in a lot of debt, why do you think it has taken so long to roll out broadband,BT Vision and fibre? All that should have been completed in 2005, latest 2009.
It is profitable for BT as they have infrastructure in every corner of the UK. You'll notice O2 mobile phone masts on top of every BT Telephone exchange, that is another thing they got away with, free resources by keeping everything in-house.
Don't forget 2001 and 2013 is over a decade and a lot has changed.
BT's worst nightmare is mobiles taking over landlines, year after year, usage is dropping whilst line rental is increasing. Now if Virgin Media covers your area, you don't need a landline for broadband and with tariffs like The One plan,The full monty and Vodafone Red, you're pretty much sorted for phone calls.
Also 4G can also provide a suitable alternative to the average 10mb ADSL connection.
Not so sure Nick, in the consumer market the future is all about TV and internet over FTTC, Sky's model will be going that way. 4G won't change the need for fixed line for TV and internet services anytime soon. Internet connected telly will end up relatively cheap, but it will need a reliable fixed line connection. Un-capped broadband with speeds of 100Mbps will be the norm soon, again something which is not going to be addressed any time soon by mobile.
The landline phone might by dying out, but it is replaced by IP data. The capacity needed is to huge to be served by mobile alone. BT makes a killing from business connections, and they will sell 4G services on customer sites through the use of the 2600Mhz they will acquire in the auctions.
Mobile payment could be huge, but equally it might not take off for a long time. BT can acquire a mobile network when it likes, it doesn't have to be now. There is going to be plenty of growth for them in fibre and business 4G services for the next 5 years, without the need to go mobile and go head to head with the likes of Vodafone and EE in a very competitive market.
The landline phone might by dying out, but it is replaced by IP data. The capacity needed is to huge to be served by mobile alone. BT makes a killing from business connections, and they will sell 4G services on customer sites through the use of the 2600Mhz they will acquire in the auctions.
Mobile payment could be huge, but equally it might not take off for a long time. BT can acquire a mobile network when it likes, it doesn't have to be now. There is going to be plenty of growth for them in fibre and business 4G services for the next 5 years, without the need to go mobile and go head to head with the likes of Vodafone and EE in a very competitive market.
