One of Europe's largest handset retailers, Carphone Warehouse, acquired alternative fixed-line provider OneTel for £132 million. In a separate deal the company bought the UK and Irish fixed line operations of Swedish firm Tele2 for £8.5 million. Carphone said the buying spree is an effort to compete head-on with British Telecom as it expands its current fixed-line subscriber base from 1 million to 2.4 million. Part of the deal sees OneTel's British Gas owner, Centrica, signing up more telecom customers through its British Gas business. Although the deals were done separately, their rationale has left many scratching their heads. Why would a handset retailer want to buy wireline companies? Analysts say one of the simplest truths in the telecom industry is that size matters. Add girth to your company, even if it won't bring huge returns.
For more on the Carphone Warehouse, OneTel deal:
- take a look at this article from the BBC