BT in £10bn move to reclaim dominant position BT is in talks to acquire either the EE or O2 wireless operators in a £10bn bet to become a fixed line and mobile phone powerhouse and regain its former status as Britain's dominant telecoms provider. A return to owning a mobile network would mark a dramatic volte face for BT, whose Cellnet wireless division was spun out as a separate company in 2001 and bought four years later by Telefónica of Spain for £17.7bn. News of the talks comes at a time when global telecoms groups have been increasingly focusing their strategies on the bundling together of mobile phone, home broadband and TV services. BT confirmed on Monday that it had held preliminary talks with Telefónica, O2"s parent, which last week admitted for the first time that it was exploring options for the future of its UK business. BT has also had initial talks with the owners of EE, Orange and Deutsche Telekom. Stéphane Richard, Orange's chief executive, suggested last week that the group may have to do a deal with a fixed-line operator, such as BT, to keep pace with the changing market. A deal to buy O2 in the UK would come at a price of close to £9bn, analysts estimated, while EE was likely to cost more than £10bn - given its higher number of customers and more advanced 4G network rollout. Both EE and O2 are worried about the future of their UK operations as competitors ramp up their efforts to sell bundled packages of mobile, home broadband and TV. Telefónica has started to provide fixed-line and TV services in some other key markets, including Spain, while BT surprised rivals in 2012 by moving into the television business with the £2bn acquisition of sports rights, including coverage of Premier League football. For BT, a deal with either mobile operator would jump start its existing plan to return to the consumer mobile business. O2 would instantly deliver more than 20m customers, and EE even more. A deal would also spur rivals in both telecoms and TV to consider how to strengthen their own positions, analysts claimed, with any number of combinations between Vodafone, TalkTalk, EE, O2, Sky and Virgin Media being tipped as ways to achieve long-awaited consolidation. BT said it was "assessing the merits of an acquisition of a mobile network operator in the UK" alongside its own plans to launch mobile services in the next year. It added that the discussions were "at a highly preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that any transaction will occur." Analysts said Telefónica would want to retain an interest in the O2 business given the importance of the British market for new technology and innovations - which might result in a deal whereby it swaps O2 for a large minority stake in a new combined group. Robert Grindle, analyst at Deutsche Bank, said BT could trade about a fifth of its stock for ownership of O2. A deal that does not use cash would also alleviate the concerns of BT's pension trustees, as well as leaving the group with enough flexibility to continue to bulk up its TV business with new sports rights. However, Telefónica could instead demand cash to help reduce its high levels of net debt - which led some analysts to warn that BT might need to launch a rights issue to fund the transaction. People close to the situation said Goldman Sachs was advising BT on its position. Goldman declined to comment. Additional reporting by Arash Massoudi BT timeline: out of mobile and back again June 2001 BT pulls off a £5.9bn rights issue - at that time, the largest in UK corporate history - to reduce a debt mountain of close to £30bn rung up through bidding for next-generation mobile phone licences. To assuage investors, it agrees to raise more cash through a disposal programme. Oct 2001 BT shareholders rubber-stamp proposals to spin off its mobile phone business - later renamed O2 - as a separate £10bn listed company, which analysts believe will pave the way for a future sale of the business. Oct 2005 Spanish telecoms group Telefónica completes its £18bn takeover of O2 at 200p a share. It is now the second-largest mobile phone operator in the UK. June 2008 Ian Livingston takes over as BT's chief executive. His first major project is to launch plans for a superfast broadband network costing billions of pounds. Oct 2008 A profit warning forces BT shares down to their lowest level since its 1984 privatisation after costs spiral at Global Services, a division serving the telecoms needs of companies and meant to be the group's growth engine after the mobile spin-off. Jan 2009 A fresh profit warning is issued as Mr Livingston admits that cost-cutting at Global Services is not happening quickly enough. Forecast earnings from the division are slashed and shares plunge. May 2009 BT plunges to only its second full-year pre-tax loss since privatisation because of the problems at BT Global Services. The dividend is cut as BT increases efforts to reduce a large deficit in its defined benefit pension scheme. June 2012: To try to boost its fledgling TV service, and in a big departure from previous strategy, BT secures rights to broadcast live Premier League football games. BT breaks rival British Sky Broadcasting's dominance of live football. Sep 2013 Gavin Patterson, the former head of BT's consumer business who masterminded BT Sport, succeeds Mr Livingston as CEO. Nov 2013 BT wrests live European football away from BSkyB by bidding £900m for the rights to screen Champions League games over three years. Jan 2014 BT shares hit a multiyear high as the success of BT Sport offsets falling revenues elsewhere. In May, the company increases its final dividend by 15 per cent and promises future growth from a mobile broadband network. July 2014 BT begins a nine-month review of its pension scheme, which analysts believe is running a deficit of £8bn. They warn that increased top-up payments could hamper BT's ability to bid for future Premier League rights. Nov 2014 BT confirms it is in talks to acquire either O2 or EE, both leading UK mobile phone operators, nearly a decade after Telefónica bought O2.