BT shares fall as Sky in talks with Virgin Media O2 on broadband deal

BT shares fell by as much as 7% on Monday morning after a report suggested that Sky was close to a deal with Virgin Media O2 to become an investor in their broadband rollout, in a potential challenge to BT (LON:BT).

The Sunday Telegraph said Sky was in talks with the new group after Virgin Media O2 previously revealed it plans to build upon the 1.2 million homes connected to full-fibre by expanding its network over the next seven years.

Sky is also reportedly in separate talks with Vodafone (LON:VOD) and TalkTalk about the two companies becoming wholesale customers.

A separate report suggested that BT expects Sky to need to use it as its partner for full-fibre services after the Sunday Telegraph said Sky is closing on a deal to partner with Virgin Media O2.

A source told Reuters that while Sky may keep its options open to take some volume to Virgin Media O2, it was still expected to use BT too.

At 09:10BST, shares in BT were trading lower by 5.5% at 150.20 pence per share.