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BT Shares Rise as Virgin Media O2 Deal Report Emerges

The Financial Times reported that Virgin Media O2 is nearing a deal to use BT's fibre broadband network. BT shares were higher this morning, but neither company had announced anything at the time of writing.

Virgin Media O2 is nearing a deal to use BT’s fibre broadband network, the Financial Times reported today. Shares in BT Group (LON: BT.A), the UK’s largest telecoms company, were 4.9% higher in morning trade.

BT stood at 223.4p at 08:57 London time, up from yesterday’s close of 213.0p. That is 16.4% above the 30 September close of 192.0p and 6.7% below the 12-month high close of 239.5p, reached on the 11th of May.

BT-A.LSE

The FT published its report at about 5am today, before the London market opened, citing people familiar with the matter. The FT’s standfirst describes a “struggling” UK telecoms group halting planned upgrades and expansion.

Virgin Media O2 is an unlisted joint venture of Liberty Global and Telefónica, so it has no share price of its own to react. It is BT’s biggest rival in fixed-line broadband, and has been building its own network.

Openreach is BT’s network arm, which owns and maintains the main UK fixed access network and rents access to rival providers.

BT Group share price over the past three months, with the jump on 30 October 2026 marked
BT shares over the past three months to 08:57 London time on 30 October 2026, with the day of the FT report marked.

The shares were higher on the day the report appeared, but no terms have been made public. No price, length of agreement or start date has been given, and no deal has been agreed.

Neither BT nor Virgin Media O2 had announced anything, including through the London Stock Exchange, at the time of writing. Any confirmation, with terms, would be the first firm detail on what the deal covers.

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