Current Verizon exec and former O2 UK boss Ronan Dunne is reported to be one of the people BT is considering to replace Gavin Patterson.

The rumour comes courtesy of the Telegraph, which has sources that claim Dunne was recently over here to speak to BT about the opportunity. That’s about it as far as the Telegraph story goes – no comment from either Dunne or BT and it could just be blind speculation. But it is also plausible as Dunne has a lot of relevant experience and could be keen on the opportunity having missed out on the top job at Verizon and an apparent sense of unfinished business in the UK.

Current BT CEO Gavin Patterson decided to throw in the towel earlier this year following a bunch of negative events afflicting BT under his tenure. It looks like a pretty exasperating gig, not least due to the tightrope the former state monopoly has to walk with regulators. Dunne’s move to Verizon seemed to be prompted by his own negative regulatory experiences following the blocking of O2’s merger with Three UK, but maybe a couple of years away has renewed his appetite for the fight.

Among the other frontrunners for the top job at BT are current consumer boss Marc Allera and various other BT senior execs as well as anyone else a headhunter might find when the Goole ‘UK telecoms CEO’. Informa’s Stephen Carter has apparently distanced himself from the position without entirely ruling it out and they could just stick the head of another utility in if they wanted to play safe.