BT to switch some customers to Vodafone

BT Group is to transfer its Irish consumer and small business broadband and voice customer base to Vodafone as part of a broadband investment deal.

Under the deall Vodafone has signed a seven-year deal with BT to source wholesale fixed-line services for the mobile group.

In a joint statement the companies said the value of the gross assets to be transferred was €4.8 million.

Under the agreement BT will transfer 84,000 consumer and 3,000 small firm broadband and voice customers to Vodafone. It will continue to serve its corporate, government and wholesale customers.

Vodafone has been seeking a wholesale agreement with a fixed-line operator for some time as it will allow it to expand its range of services.

British company BT has headquarters in Belfast and Dublin and employs close to 2,800 people.

BT added it planned to upgrade the broadband speeds to approximately two-thirds of its lines to 24mbs. The agreement is subject to approval from the Competition Authority.