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EU: Big mergers test strength of EU telecom market, watchdog

By  |  June 26, 2013

As the European Union looks to consolidate the continent’s telecommunications industry, initiating clashes with communications operators, the current state of the market – as well as the strength of the European Commission – will be tested as regulators gear-up to review two major mergers. Nearly $15 billion worth of mergers was announced recently in the form of two deals: Hutchinson Whampoa’s buyout of Telefonica’s O2 Ireland, and Vodafone’s buyout of Kabel Deutschland. Both mergers have big stakes for their perspective markets. In Ireland, Hutchinson’s deal will reduce the number of major telecom operator competitors from four to three. In Germany, Vodafone’s buyout in Germany could set the nation up for a duopoly. The review of both deals will be crucial for the future of the European telecom market, say reports, as several other members of the European Union, including Italy and Spain, have four-player telecom markets that are likely to face further consolidation in the near future.

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