Trinity Mirror is understood to have held preliminary discussions for the sale of ic24, the newspaper publishing group's internet service provider.

The talks are part of a wider strategic review at the company, formed from the merger of regional newspaper firm Trinity and the Mirror Group 18 months ago.

Trinity Mirror's magazines and exhibitions division has also been identified as a potential candidate for sale.

Insiders stressed that no firm decisions had been taken on ic24 but acknowledged that the City has been looking for a disposal. "The future of the ISP is under scrutiny," said one. "The group is looking at what the next logical step is."

Trinity Mirror would retain its network of websites and is still committed to spending the £150m outlined in March last year at the height of the internet boom. The sites include 13 regional portals leveraging the network of regional newspapers, icSport, icChoice and icShowbiz.

The service provider has 670,000 subscribers but some executives at the group feel it has now served its purpose in establishing the portals business. A likely buyer would be a telecoms firm acquiring the traffic.

Trinity Mirror's other online assets include sportinglife.com and totalbet.com. Analysts are becoming increasingly concerned that Trinity Mirror is a company lacking a strategy - the chief reason for the poor record of its share price which continues to trade at a significant discount to its peers.

The company is also facing the threats of a softening advertising market and a rise in newsprint costs.

At least one analyst has suggested the Sunday People might not have a future within the group, although two approaches for the tabloid newspaper over the past 12 months have been turned down.

Philip Graf, group chief executive, announced in September that he intended to step back from the the day-to-day running of the group to focus on broader issues, appointing Joe Sinyor to run the newspapers.