The parent companies of Orange and T-Mobile have offered concessions to the European Commission on their merger to ensure the deal gets the go ahead, according to reports.
France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom have told the European Commission's anti-trust investigators that they are willing to ensure deals for network sharing as well as selling off some of their sought after spectrum allocation, said The Wall Street Journal, citing its source as "a person familiar with the situation."
The UK merger is currently being looked into by the EU, but there have been calls from both competitors and regulatory authorities on these shores that the deal should be looked into in more detail over here before it gets the thumbs up.
John Holmes, a spokesperson from Which?, told IT PRO back in December: "This is a joint venture between UK subsidiaries only so only UK consumers will be affected. The only reason to have it looked at by Brussels is a technicality [down to parent company revenue]."
He believed that the commission should refer it to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), and the OFT itself called on Europe to let it look at the merger earlier this month.
We contacted both mobile companies and the European Commission for comment but they had not responded to our request at the time of publication.
-
OpenAI is teaming up with Nscale and Aker to build Europe's first AI gigafactoryNews Stargate Norway aims to have 100,000 Nvidia processors up and running by the end of next year
-
Nearly half of enterprises aren't prepared for quantum cybersecurity threatsNews Most businesses haven't even started transitioning to post-quantum cryptography, research shows
-
The second enforcement deadline for the EU AI Act is approaching – here’s what businesses need to know about the General-Purpose AI Code of PracticeNews General-purpose AI model providers will face heightened scrutiny
-
Meta isn’t playing ball with the EU on the AI ActNews Europe is 'heading down the wrong path on AI', according to Meta, with the company accusing the EU of overreach
-
‘Confusing for developers and bad for users’: Apple launches appeal over ‘unprecedented’ EU fineNews Apple is pushing back against new app store rules imposed by the European Commission, suggesting a €500m fine is a step too far.
-
Apple, Meta hit back at EU after landmark DMA finesNews The European Commission has issued its first penalties under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), fining Apple €500 million and Meta €200m.
-
‘Europe could do it, but it's chosen not to do it’: Eric Schmidt thinks EU regulation will stifle AI innovation – but Britain has a huge opportunityNews Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt believes EU AI regulation is hampering innovation in the region and placing enterprises at a disadvantage.
-
The EU just shelved its AI liability directive
News The European Commission has scrapped plans to introduce the AI Liability Directive aimed at protecting consumers from harmful AI systems.
-
A big enforcement deadline for the EU AI Act just passed – here's what you need to know
News The first set of compliance deadlines for the EU AI Act passed on the 2nd of February, and enterprises are urged to ramp up preparations for future deadlines.
-
EU agrees amendments to Cyber Solidarity Act in bid to create ‘cyber shield’ for member statesNews The EU’s Cyber Solidarity Act will provide new mechanisms for authorities to bolster union-wide security practices
