Rival bidder warns BT's TalkTalk swoop risks broadband monopoly

The Telegraph··GB·Read original
3▲0 ▼0Impact / 5
Summary · why it matters

A rival bidder has warned that ministers should block BT from acquiring TalkTalk to avoid creating a broadband monopoly in the UK. Tom O'Hagan, a former TalkTalk executive leading a takeover bid alongside private equity firm Epiris, said BT would regain near-total dominance of the wholesale market if it were allowed to buy TalkTalk's wholesale division, PXC. BT has made an eleventh-hour entry into the auction for TalkTalk, which is fighting to stave off insolvency under a £1.4bn debt pile. Epiris is bidding for PXC but is asking for hundreds of millions of pounds in debt owed to BT's network division Openreach to be written off, while TalkTalk's lenders are considering legal action if BT is given approval to mount a rescue deal. BT chief executive Allison Kirkby held talks last week with Whitehall officials seeking assurances that the company would not face a prolonged investigation by the competition watchdog, amid concerns that a TalkTalk collapse would disrupt around 250,000 vulnerable households and weaken national security.

Impact on assets 2

Cloud & Digital Infrastructure▲ · 1 stocks
BT Group Plc
BT-A
± MixedRegulationrelevance

BT's eleventh-hour bid for TalkTalk faces a rival's call for ministers to block it over monopoly concerns and possible prolonged competition-watchdog scrutiny

Financials▲ · 1 stocks

Off-coverage companies 3

TalkTalkPrivate± Mixed
Capitalrelevance

TalkTalk is fighting insolvency under a £1.4bn debt pile while rival bidders BT and Epiris vie for its wholesale division PXC

Epiris LLPPrivate± Mixed
Competitionrelevance

Epiris is a rival bidder for PXC warning that BT's acquisition of TalkTalk should be blocked to avoid a broadband monopoly

PXCPrivate± Mixed
Competitionrelevance

PXC is the TalkTalk wholesale division at the centre of competing bids from BT and Epiris

© 2026 MarketIVNews