BT planning to reconnect its mobile phones

BT is preparing to move back into the consumer mobile phone market after striking a deal with the telecoms giant behind orange and T-Mobile.

It is 12 years since BT hung up on its own mobile division, Cellnet, which has since been renamed o2 and bought by Spain’s Telefonica.

But now the group could begin offering consumer mobiles alongside its existing broadband, TV and telephone services from as early as next year.

It has signed an agreement with EE, the collaboration between orange and T-Mobile, to piggyback on its mobile service.

BT (up 5.6p at 348.3p) already has around 260,000 business mobile customers, from public sector organisations to small and medium-sized businesses.

The company is one of the largest operators of corporate BlackBerrys and currently has a deal with Vodafone to use its network.

But now BT is closing in on a deal that will pave the way for an expansion of its mobile services and will take the company into socalled ‘quad play’ – offering all four telecoms services under one roof.

Virgin Media is the only company to offer this in the uK – but has seen just 3m customers take up its mobile package. It is thought BT could crack the market if it brings its financial might to bear.

It is understood the group would be unlikely to return to the High Street with shops, and mobile subscriptions would not be available without also joining up to a wider bundle.

BT and EE are expected to share network capacity, including BT’s range of wi-fi internet spots and its newly acquired 4G airwaves.