Vodafone and BT Wholesale sign five-year network deal

Mobile phone network Vodafone has agreed a five-year deal with BT Wholesale that will involve the UK's biggest landline telecoms provider providing and managing core network links between Vodafone's UK core network and its mobile phone cell masts and base stations.

The two groups said BT's fast Ethernet service from its 21st Century Network infrastructure would be used, enabling Vodafone to manage the predicted growth in traffic and bandwidth requirements from new applications such as Web browsing and video streaming.

It will also enable Vodafone to benefit from BT Wholesale's reach while avoiding capital investment risk.

Telecoms groups have looked to promote mobile data services such as texts, photos and music to offset declining voice revenues in mature markets.