Fibernet has played down speculation that it could be the latest operator to be caught up in the current round of telco consolidation.

The UK firm's share price has been nudging higher recently prompting speculation that it could be latest take-over target.

But in a statement today the Basingstoke telco said that while it's had a nibble, it's unlikely to amount to much.

"The company has received a very preliminary approach which the board believes is highly unlikely to lead to an offer," it said today.

Interest in Fibernet follows a flurry of activity over recent months including Sky's acquisition of EasyNet and Telefonica swallowing O2. At the same time there are other operators up for sale including Caudwell Communications, OneTel and Your Communications.

Fibernet has its own national fibre optic network as well as metropolitan networks in nine UK cities.

For the year to August revenues were up £5.7m to £47.9m compared to last year. It made a reduced loss on the year of £2.7m compared to £5.1m 12 months earlier. ®