Reports this morning claim satellite giant BSkyB is considering a bid for telecoms operator OneTel, a move which would extend the broadcaster’s reach into the communications and online business, allowing for triple play internet and telephone services to accompany the company’s current TV offering.
OneTel is currently up for sale by owners Centrica PLC, with a price tag of around £300 million, according to today’s Daily Telegraph. Sky’s interest in the telecoms industry was first mooted earlier this week, with speculation that the firm’s decision to raise £1 billion through a bond issue stems from a desire to compete more actively with cable and internet providers.
However, the purchase of a telecoms operator could also lead to Sky offering a truly on-demand television experience. Further investment of around £100-200 million is reportedly planned by the company to develop an ultra-fast internet service through local loop unbundling, potentially offering video on demand and IPTV capabilities.
Sky’s newest high definition set top boxes are also rumoured to pack an ethernet network connection, enabling them to use broadband internet connections, although it is not known whether this is intended to provide anything other than a return path for usage data.
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