A mobile broadband network sharing deal could see Orange work alongside 3 Mobile and T-Mobile.

The mobile phone company is preparing to join the Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) joint venture, according to technology news site ZDNet UK.

Orange will provide "a few thousand of its own masts" to the project, the website said, quoting sources within the sector. The joint venture sees each of the service providers combining their resources to reduce costs and boost mobile broadband signal.

3 Mobile will maintain its stake of half of the joint venture, with Orange and T-Mobile taking 25 per cent of the initiative each, ZDNet UK said. Parent company Everything Everywhere runs Orange and T-Mobile.

More than 30 million people are customers at Everything Everywhere, which saw the former rivals join forces at the start of July to form the largest communications company in the country.