It has been reported that T-Mobile and Orange have entered talks concerning a merger of their UK operations, creating a partnership and network bigger than O2, the current UK leader. The merger will see the formation of a giant network with more than 28 million subscriptions, trumping that of the 20 million or so O2 subscriptions.

Will this merger give the companies the clout to pull the iPhone exclusive away from O2? We don’t know, but rumour has it that any deal that may go through with Apple, won’t happen until November, which ties in with the proposed merger. All we know is, O2 had better have a rather large Ace up its sleeve if it is to remain the number 1 UK network provider and maintain its sole rights to the iPhone in the UK.

What will this super-network be called? With no official word about what network name will be adopted, it is open to speculation. We really, really hope they don’t choose the somewhat obvious and completely boring T-Orange which has been suggested. As for ideas of our own? we’re a little thin on the ground ourselves, got a suggestion however funny or serious? Post it as a comment below.