OFT concerned about mobile phone network merger

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has voiced concerns about the proposed merger between Orange and T-Mobile.

The European Commission (EC) is currently looking at the implications of a merger and the OFT has asked the EC to have the UK aspects of the deal referred to it so that a decision can be made about whether the Competition Commission should investigate it.

In a statement, the OFT said that its "initial view, following consultation, is that the joint venture threatens significantly to affect competition in mobile telecommunications in the UK".

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, which own T-Mobile and Orange respectively, announced in November that they had signed a deal to join the two UK operations in a 50:50 joint venture.

If approved, the deal would mean the merged network would have a 37 per cent share of the market, including business phone users.

Conrad Longmore, editor of the Mobile Gazette website, said that "less competition is bad news for consumers", although he stressed that there was still plenty of choice available.

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