UK regulators shift focus to economic growth with approval of Vodafone-Three Merger
Date
12/9/2024 7:21:16 AM
(MENAFN) Britain's choice to permit the merger of two of its four mobile networks marks the first significant indication that regulators are aligning with the UK government's desire for a focus on economic expansion and infrastructure development, rather than prioritizing lower prices for consumers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the antitrust watchdog, approved the USD19 billion Vodafone-Three UK merger yesterday after agreeing with the companies' argument that improved networks would foster competition and benefit the economy.
This approval comes 18 months after the CMA angered Microsoft by blocking its USD69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard over worries about competition in the emerging cloud gaming industry.
At that time, the CMA dismissed Microsoft's offer of behavioral remedies—commitments on how the combined company would operate to preserve competition—arguing that such promises would be hard to monitor.
Following Microsoft's complaint that Britain was closing its doors to business, the increasingly isolated CMA altered its stance and approved a revised agreement.
It accepted behavioral remedies for the Vodafone-Three deal, assigning telecoms regulator Ofcom to oversee commitments related to pricing and investment to address competition concerns—a shift in the regulator's approach.
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