BT gets greenlight for £12.5 billion EE mega-merger from competition watchdog

BT has won a decisive victory in the battle to force its way into the mobile phone market as its £12.5 billion mega-merger with EE was waived through by the competition watchdog.

Rivals were furious with the decision, having pushed hard for parts of BT to be sold off if the deal was to go ahead.

However, the Competition and Markets Authority said BT could keep its portfolio of businesses, believing the deal is “not expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any market in the UK”.

Vodafone and TalkTalk said they were “disappointed” and “concerned” with the ruling, in particular that BT was not forced to sell Openreach, which leases fixed phone cables to the mobile operators.

However, the CMA pointed out that its role was to make sure customers were not affected by a lessening of competition.

It said: “We have… been mindful that the role of the CMA in merger cases is to protect competition for the benefit of consumers, not the commercial interests of competitors.”

BT will use the ruling to push through plans to tap into the so-called “quad play” market, with companies keen to offer fixed line, broadband, TV and mobile phone bundles to households.

However, rivals reacted with anger.

A Vodafone spokesman said: “We strongly believe the combination of the UK’s dominant supplier of digital fixed infrastructure — upon which all other providers rely — with the largest mobile operator would have a negative impact on the market.”

A TalkTalk spokesperson added: “We note the CMA is divided over its findings in wholesale mobile and we will be studying these, alongside the full findings, before reporting back to the regulator in due course.”

However, the CMA looked into the impact of Openreach and said it was a matter for the regulator Ofcom, pointing out that a review into the structure of the industry is already under way.