Vodafone and Sky in 'high-level talks' to counter BT's dominance in the UK

BT has recently cemented its position as the number one broadband provider, leaving rivals worried about their future

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Vodafone and BSkyB are reportedly holding “high-level talks” in order to discuss methods of challenging BT’s dominance in the UK broadband market.

Citing “senior sources”, The Sunday Times reports that the mobile phone giant and satellite broadcasters are discussing a variety of deals involving Sky’s movie and sports channels as well as a possible but “unlikely” collaboration on a high-speed broadband service.

The former national operator has recently cemented its position as the country’s top broadband supplier after substantial new investments.

The BT group has spent more than £3 billion on a new high-speed fibre-optic network available to 90 per cent of UK homes, whilst also launching its first TV channel, BT Sport, to compete with Sky Sports.

After BT spent £900 million on the rights to broadcast Champions League football, BSkyB saw their share price drop dramatically, knocking £1.5bn off the company’s value.

The world’s oldest telecom’s company also parted ways with Vodafone last year after a deal to provide BT's corporate mobile services using the operator’s network expired.

BT has since replaced this deal with a multi-year agreement with EE, a joint venture between France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom that operates the Orange and T-Mobile brands in the UK.

With this new partnership BT could offer possibly offer a “quad play” package in the future that bundles together mobile, broadband, TV and home phone contracts.

These deals have proved popular in many European markets but have not yet arrived on UK shores. With BT expanding its services and a possible Vodafone and BSkyB collaboration in the works, consumers could soon be offered a choice.