Waiting for permission

ORANGE and MasMovil have given the European Commission (EC) formal notification of their merger plans.

The EU’s antitrust regulators now have until March 20 to decide whether to approve the €18.6 billion deal between the French company and its Spanish rival.

If they have serious concerns regarding the merger they could also decide to launch a further, more extended investigation.

Last July MasMovil and Orange signed an agreement which, if allowed to go ahead, would create a forceful mobile and broadband offer to challenge Telefonica. Analysts predicted at the time that this could open the door to similar agreements in the UK, Italy and Portugal. If the EC says ‘yes’ to the deal it would leave third­ranked Vodafone stranded, although insiders point out that it enjoys a more consolidated market.