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EU: Almunia shuts down telecoms’ rally for more merger leniency

By  |  February 28, 2013

Just days after some of Europe’s largest telecommunications companies rallied for more leniency in merger and acquisition activity, European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia addressed the issue on Thursday and defended that agency’s stringent rules. In his speech Almunia rejected the telecom companies’ requests for more leniency and took the time to promote an agenda of a more consolidated European telecom market, arguing that the market fragmentation is to blame for investment holdup, and not competition regulation. According to reports, telecommunications groups are recently “slow” to invest in more recent telecom technologies such as 4G and fiber broadband. Some, including the European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association, argue the Commission’s aggressive merger rules are to blame.

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