Easynet has confirmed that it is the subject of an acquisition bid, rumoured to be by BSkyB.

"The Easynet board can confirm that it has received an approach that may or may not lead to a formal offer being made for the company," the ISP said in a statement.

Easynet is one of BT's main rivals in the provision of broadband services and would give BSkyB the opportunity to match BT and NTL/Telewest in the provision of such services. NTL and Telewest announced an intention to merge this month.

The move would strengthen the view that the three operators are likely to dominate the future market for so-called triple-play services comprising TV, broadband and telephony.

It may also strengthen BT's resolve to develop TV over broadband services in a bid to increase its threat to BSkyB.

However, Ian Fogg, broadband and VoIP analyst at Jupiter Research, believes that the concept of 'triple-play' misses the point.

"BSkyB is finding it increasingly hard to find new customers and it has a target of 10 million customers by 2010," he said.

"Getting access to Easynet's subscriber base would give it a chance to upsell them to satellite services which is increasingly where they see subscribers coming from.

"Broadband is also a very fast growing area at the moment. If the deal does go through will BSkyB want Easynet to continue its strategy of reselling broadband through its wholesale services?"

Dr Simon Rawling, global head of consultancy at project management firm PIPC, added: " BSkyB's bid for Easynet could knock the likes of NTL for six. But integration will be complex and any mistakes could affect the existing customer base of both businesses."