Mobile telecoms giant and internet players, Tiscali and Bulldog play down merger rumours

Vodafone, Tiscali and Bulldog today played down merger reports.

The Sunday Telegraph yesterday reported that Vodafone was considering a bid for Tiscali or possibly Cable & Wireless’s Bulldog unit. Both possible targets offer broadband packages and have local-loop unbundling arrangements in place with BT.

Vodafone said the report was “speculation” and both Tiscali and Cable & Wireless declined to comment.

Service combinations and low-cost deals have been a growing trend recently. This month, Carphone Warehouse launched its Broadband Forever service with a landline package; and NTL agreed to buy Virgin Mobile.