Regulator to evaluate Orange/Sunrise merger
Switzerland’s Competition Commission (Comco) says it is going to scrutinise the planned merger between telecom providers Orange and Sunrise.
In a statement on Monday, Comco said there could be reason to believe the merger would give the new company a dominant position in some mobile telephony sectors.
Orange’s parent company France Telecom agreed last month to buy three-quarters of Sunrise from the Danish group TDC in a deal worth €1.5 billion (SFr2.26 billion).
The two operators based in Switzerland have a combined turnover of SFr3.1 billion. With 3.4 million mobile phone clients or 40 per cent of the market, the new entity will be the largest competitor for the leader and original fixed-line operator Swisscom.
Comco will investigate the potential for the merged company to join forces with Swisscom to create a “collective, monopolistic” position in the market that would undermine competitive pricing.
According to Swiss law, the evaluation must begin within the next four months.
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