BT’s TalkTalk rescue puts broadband competition on the line

BT has agreed to buy TalkTalk and its wholesale arm, PlatformX Communications, in a debt-free rescue deal. TalkTalk is the UK’s fourth-biggest broadband provider, and the deal is intended to give its millions of customers certainty while saving 900 jobs. That is a more tangible outcome than a collapse—but it also puts a major broadband rival under BT’s roof.

The Noise

“Rescue” is the headline; it doesn’t settle whether this is good news for the market. The takeover still...