Thus to sell Demon consumer ISP

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 24 Oct 2006 at 12:53

The consolidation of the UK broadband market continues apace with the news that Thus has has put Demon Internet's consumer business up for sale.

The Scotland-based telecommunications company is expected to get between £15 and £20 million forom the sale of the ISP it bought for £66.6 million in 1998. Demon was the one of the first UK ISPS and had 180,000 dial-up users when Thus acquired it. It now has around 50,000 ADSL subscribers, far fewer than the industry's leading providers.

Thus plans to hold onto its small- and medium-sized business customers.

Since Carphone Warehouse began offering 'free' broadband with its TalkTalk telephone service, both Cable & Wireless and AOL have decided to sell off their broadband access businesses. C&W sold Bulldog Broadband to Pipex for £12 million while AOL will get £370 million from Carphone Warehouse in return for its UK customer base, while PlusNet has confirmed that it has received an approach from an unnamed suitor, believed to be BT Retail.