Finance
Liberty Global says Virgin Media O2 will still play role in consolidation
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 1, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 1, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Virgin Media O2 continues to play a vital role in fiber consolidation, despite Telefonica's decision to cancel the network spinoff.
LONDON (Reuters) -Liberty Global said Britain's Virgin Media O2 - its joint venture with Telefonica - would still play a role in fibre consolidation after the Spanish company said a plan to spin off the network had been scrapped.
"I do see us playing a role in altnet (alternative fibre networks) consolidation, which was one of the main benefits of the Netco project that we were exploring together," Chief Executive Mike Fries told analysts after the group reported second-quarter results on Friday.
"I think there are many things about the Netco strategy that Telefonica would agree with and other aspects they don't.
"And so as good partners we will work to find the areas of agreement and head forward."
Telefonica's Chief Executive Marc Murtra told Reuters on Wednesday the plan to spin off Virgin Media O2's fixed network had been scrapped.
Reports last year said the companies were planning to sell a 20-40% stake in the network as part of the spinoff.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)
A joint venture is a business arrangement where two or more parties agree to pool their resources for a specific task, sharing profits, losses, and control of the enterprise.
Fiber consolidation refers to the process of merging or acquiring fiber optic networks to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service offerings in telecommunications.
A spinoff is a corporate action where a company creates a new independent company by selling or distributing new shares, often to enhance shareholder value.
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