By Adria Calatayud
The European Union’s competition authority said Tuesday that its preliminary view is that a proposed combination between Orange’s Spain operations and MasMovil might reduce competition in the retail-telecommunications market and lead to higher prices.
The European Commission–the EU’s antitrust enforcer–said it has sent a so-called statement of objections to the parties over their proposed joint venture in Spain in which it outlines its concerns following an in-depth investigation opened in April.
The commission said it is concerned that the proposed deal might reduce the number of network operators in Spain and that this might result in significant price increases for affected retail customers. Orange and MasMovil are the second and fourth largest providers of retail mobile and internet services in Spain, respectively, it said.
In response, Orange and MasMovil said they appreciate that the European Commission has removed its considerations regarding the wholesale market. The commission in April said its preliminary investigation found that Orange and MasMovil would have the ability to restrict access of virtual operators to wholesale mobile network and wholesale fixed network access services as a result of the transaction.
The companies remain confident in the outcome of the process, they said.
Orange and MasMovil will now have the opportunity to address the objections raised by the European Commission, which has until Sept. 4 to take a final decision, it said. The commission said the statement of objections doesn’t prejudge the outcome of its investigation.
Write to Adria Calatayud at [email protected]
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