LLU ISP Be has been snapped up by telco O2 becoming the third mobile operator to acquire an ISP recently.

The £50m deal will give O2 access to Be's 9,000 broadband customers, but O2's interest is mostly down to Be's local loop unbundling strategy, which has seen it install its own equipment in roughly 150 telephone exchanges. Be expects to make its broadband network available to about half of the UK population by the end of this year and 70 per cent of the population by the end of next year.

Be prepared for more 'free' broadband offers heading this way in the month to come.