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UK to examine Orange/T-Mobile deal
04 February 2010
The proposed merger of T-Mobile and Orange’s operations in the UK is to be reviewe by the competition regulator
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T-Mobile
Orange
UK
Deutsche Telekom
France Telecom
Office of Fair Trading
The UK’s competition regulator is seeking to review the proposed merger of the UK operations of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom. The Office of Fair Trading has asked the European Commission, which is already assessing the proposed joint venture, to refer the matter to the OFT for investigation.
The OFT is concerned that the planned deal will threaten competition in the UK and cut the number of players in the market from five to four. A merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK will create the UK’s biggest mobile phone operator, with a 37% market share. O2 has a 27% share of the market, while Vodafone holds a 25% share. Hutchison’s 3 has the rest.
A review by the OFT is likely to postpone the proposed merger by months or freeze the deal altogether. GTB