British Telecommunications said yesterday it was in talks to sell off its £2 billion property portfolio as part of efforts to cut its £30 billion debt mountain.

BT, which owns Esat Telecom, announced a restructuring in November to slice £10 billion sterling (€15.87 billion) from its debts, built up through its investment in third-generation mobile phone licences.

The group has already begun selling off non-core businesses and the property deal would form part of that strategy.