Bulldog Broadband is to be ditched by parent company Cable & Wireless, resulting in the loss of 150 jobs mainly in sales and marketing. The company still plans to sell wholesale internet access.

C&W said that its Bulldog Internet unit will offer a wholesale product to other providers starting in July, and is already in discussions with several potential customers for the product.

John Pluthero, executive director at C&W UK, said that a wholesaling approach is the best way to optimise its return on investment since acquiring Bulldog in 2004.

Shares in the company rose three per cent on the news. Analysts suggested that C&W's move is designed to spare Bulldog the cost of acquiring retail customers in an increasingly competitive broadband market.

Bulldog posted an operating loss of £120m last year, and struggled in a market where competition will only get tougher with the entry of companies such as Carphone Warehouse and Orange.

C&W issued two profit warnings last year and announced in February that it would be cutting over 3,000 UK jobs over five years and reducing its corporate customer base.

C&W stressed that it would continue to serve its 110,000 existing retail customers.