Sky eyes Telefonica deal in possible quad-play move

Sky has reportedly been in talks with Telefonica about partnering with its UK mobile arm O2, in a move that could see the UK operator move into the quad-play space.

According to a Financial Times report, Sky and Telefonica have been in talks since late 2014. The report says that while Sky is unlikely to buy O2, it would instead partner to combine O2’s mobile service with Sky’s pay TV, broadband and fixed-line phone offerings.

Separately, Bloomberg reported that Sky is in talks with Telefonica to buy access to O2’s wireless network, with a similar deal having also been discussed with Vodafone.

The news follows recent reports that Hutchinson Whampoa, owner of UK mobile network Three, has been in merger talks with O2.

Last month BT said that it in exclusive talks to acquire the UK’s leading mobile operator EE in a £12.5 billion (€15.8 billion). BT had been widely expected to make a bid for either Telefónica’s O2 or EE and re-enter the UK mobile market, building on its launch of fibre services and aggressive entry into the UK pay TV market.