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EU: Vestager says precedent will not affect telecoms merger call

By  |  April 10, 2016

The EU competition commissioner weighing Three’s proposed takeover of O2 has said she will not be bound by the precedent of other European countries being allowed to have only three mobile operators.

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    Margrethe Vestager was speaking in Washington amid increasing speculation that the final decision on whether to allow the two British mobile operators to merge will be revealed in days.

    When asked if her hands were tied by past decisions, she told the Financial Times: “No, we do not work with magic numbers. Not even when three is involved.”

    The EU has previously allowed mergers that reduced the number of mobile operators from four to three in Germany, Austria and Ireland. Ms Vestager said the commission paid heed to each country’s history and circumstances.

    “What limits us is the concrete case. Because we have to respect the specificities in each case. What is our prerogative is to serve the citizens to make sure post-merger that it is pro-competitive or neutral when it comes to the competitive situation.”

    Asked when the decision would be announced, she said: “Relatively soon, yes, but the timing has been a little bit skewed because we have been sort of working with the parties in order to make sure that we get things done in the right way.”

    Full content: The Financial Times

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