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BT takeover of EE gets final Competition and Markets Authority clearance | BT takeover of EE gets final Competition and Markets Authority clearance |
(35 minutes later) | |
BT Group's takeover of mobile phone network EE has been given final clearance by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). | BT Group's takeover of mobile phone network EE has been given final clearance by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). |
The £12.5bn deal brings together the UK's largest fixed-line business and the largest mobile telecoms business. | |
The CMA said it was unlikely to harm competition as BT was "smaller in mobile" and EE a "minor player" in broadband. | |
BT said the combined company would be "a digital champion for the UK". | |
The deal creates a giant covering fixed-line phones, broadband, mobile and TV. | |
John Wotton of the CMA said: "The evidence does not show that this merger is likely to cause significant harm to competition or the interests of consumers." | John Wotton of the CMA said: "The evidence does not show that this merger is likely to cause significant harm to competition or the interests of consumers." |
BT chief executive Gavin Patterson said: "The combined BT and EE will be a digital champion for the UK, providing high levels of investment and driving innovation in a highly competitive market." | BT chief executive Gavin Patterson said: "The combined BT and EE will be a digital champion for the UK, providing high levels of investment and driving innovation in a highly competitive market." |
The deal was originally announced in February last year, and the CMA provisionally approved the merger in October last year. | The deal was originally announced in February last year, and the CMA provisionally approved the merger in October last year. |
Rivals TalkTalk and Vodafone called for competition authorities to force BT to spin off its Openreach operation. | Rivals TalkTalk and Vodafone called for competition authorities to force BT to spin off its Openreach operation. |
Openreach maintains the UK's copper and fibre communications cable network. | |
In July, regulator Ofcom started looking into whether BT and Openreach should be split up. | |
BT Openreach was created ten years ago with the remit of giving competitors access to its telephone and broadband network on equal terms. | |
Ofcom had concerns that Openreach's performance on behalf of those providers had often been poor. |