TalkTalk swaps Vodafone for O2 as telecoms war heats up

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TalkTalk chief executive Dido Harding has swapped Vodafone in favour of O2 as the phone network for its mobile customers, as the “quad play” telecom wars hot up.

Harding said the relationship with O2, owned by Spanish giant Telefonica, will be “deeper”, and the tie-up will fuel speculation about a merger as telecom firms increasingly look to sell a quad play of services — fixed-line broadband, home phone, TV and mobile.

Harding said TalkTalk can have “a long future” as an independent company but added: “There are clearly lots of other things we could do with O2. We are absolutely open to deepening the relationship.”

She claimed the deal showed TalkTalk is “on the offensive” as the low-price “value” player in quad play.

Speaking days after Vodafone said it would launch a residential broadband and TV service, she said operators want to protect their premium bases, and added: “None of them want to serve our customers at the right price point.”