Britain's competition regulator says it is minded to approve the merger of telcos Vodafone and Three UK, if the pair commit to network upgrades and short-term customer safeguards against higher bills.
"A legally binding network commitment would boost competition in the longer term and the additional measures would protect consumers and wholesale customers while the network upgrades are being rolled out.
The two telcos issued a report last month claiming their current networks were"outdated" due to lack of investment, and said the proposed merger would unlock the funding needed to deliver a modernAccording to the CMA, this would become a legal obligation, to be enforced by both itself and telecoms regulator Ofcom.
"Vodafone and Three can tentatively order in the champagne," said CCS Insight's director of Consumer and Connectivity, Kester Mann. He added:"The CMA has until December 7 to publish a final decision on a merger that would create a c. £8.4bn revenue, £1.5bn EBITDA and £1.1bn capex business, with a similar one-third UK mobile market share as EE and VM02," referencing the two biggest mobile operators in the country.
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