After the European Commission took the lead in a review over the merger between T-Mobile and Orange, it has been reported that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) are to seek for the investigation to be referred back to them. Whilst the OFT declined to comment, it is believed that that regulator may wish to carry out the review over the joining of the UK’s 3rd and 4th largest mobile operators, within the UK market.
There has been some concern over the merger of the two companies which will become the largest mobile company within the UK, owning a 37per cent market share. However, whilst the European Commission has ten days to decide whether to conduct the review themselves, or pass it back to the OFT, it is reported that the latter regulator is more concerned over technical issues such as radio spectrums, rather than competition problems. Currently Orange and T-Mobile own 84per cent of the 1,800 megahertz radio spectrum, leading to rival companies including Vodafone, 3 and O2 to express concerns over the monopoly of a valuable asset should the firms combine.
Expressing that he’d had concerns over the 1,800Mghz band range for a number of years, chief executive of 3 Kevin Russell revealed that he had been speaking to Ofcom over the matter since 2007. He said that the UK was better equipped at handling a review such as this as it needed to be handled “properly and carefully.”
Radio spectrum is of particular importance within the UK at the moment due to the Digital Britain report proposing to make frequencies available through auctions instead of contracts. This would not only boost rural signals, but allow for future development of new technologies and smaller companies.
