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Orange and T-Mobile urge EU probe
17 December 2009
France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom hope that the European Commission will give faster approval to their UK merger than the UK’s authorities
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[France Telecom]
[Deuitsche Telekom]
[Orange]
[T-Mobile]
[EU]
[UK]
Comment: It’s clear that France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom want a fast decision on this attempted merger of their UK operations, but the deal has more UK implications than Europe-wide implications — and it would seem unlikely that London would relinquish its role in making a decision on the UK’s highly competitive telecoms market
France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are pushing European Union regulators to scrutinise the planned merger of their UK mobile phone businesses. The two companies are hoping that an inquiry by the European Commission will take less time than one conducted by the UK competition authorities.
France Telecom’s Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK, the third and fourth biggest mobile operators in the country, are seeking to merge.
The commission has jurisdiction over the case as two-thirds of the turnovers of France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are outside the UK. The telecom companies are preparing a document about the merger and are hoping to submit it to the commission before the end of the year. It might, however, not happen until January 2010.
The European Commission will launch an initial inquiry lasting about 25 working days, which can be followed by an 18-week, in-depth investigation. GTB
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