Carphone Warehouse buys Onetel

Carphone Warehouse today doubled the number of customers using its TalkTalk fixed-line services by spending up to £154m (€226m) on acquiring Onetel.

The group – best known for its high street stores selling mobile phones - struck a deal with power supplier Centrica three months after Onetel was put up for sale.

Onetel will be rebranded TalkTalk and the deal also includes a three-year agreement under which Centrica has promised to recruit more telecoms customers through its British Gas business.

It brings together the 1.1 million landline customers of Onetel with the 1.06 million subscribers to TalkTalk, which was launched by Carphone two years ago.

In a separate statement, Carphone said it is also buying the fixed-line business of Tele2 in the UK and Ireland for £8.5m (€12.5m). This will give it a further 224,000 customers.