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BT dreams of a happy ending with Verizon deal
The Observer
|July 05, 2026
Last week BT struck a notable deal, folding its international arm, which serves multinationals in 180 countries, into a 50:50 joint venture with the US's Verizon, which will pay a $625m “equalisation fee” to level up the two sides.
This comes with a sense of déjà vu. The business Verizon brings is descended from MCI, a US carrier BT tried to marry in 1996, when the two agreed to create Concert plc – a transatlantic colossus billed as the largest international merger in history. Then BT's shares wobbled, it trimmed its offer and WorldCom swept in and stole the bride. BT’s global dream staggered on in a venture with AT&T and duly collapsed in 2001. Now the exes are back at
This story is from the July 05, 2026 edition of The Observer.
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