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Virgin Media statement on BT-EE merger clearance
15th January 2016
On 15 January 2016 the Competition Markets Authority cleared the merger between BT and EE without any conditions.
Virgin Media statement in response:
It is a compliment to Virgin Media and other challenger telecoms companies in the UK that this deal has been approved.
The new BT has nearly half the share of telecoms revenues, including the lion’s share of central government and B2B business, and it has a comprehensive copper network by virtue of inheriting the country’s 19th Century infrastructure investment. In many jurisdictions this acquisition would have had at least some conditions attached.
Clearly, BT-EE has the resources to meet any government imposed Universal Service Obligation itself rather than recommending a tax is imposed on new entrants and transferred to itself.
Similarly, we expect that, for the benefit of UK consumers, the company will live up to the CMA’s findings that it will offer fair and reasonable terms to challenger mobile operators.