The European Union has cleared Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong-based telecommunications firm, to move forward with its planned $1 billion purchase of Telefónica’s Irish mobile-communications operation. The EU’s approval was contingent on Hutchison Whampoa selling 30 percent of the newly-formed company’s networking capacity to two mobile virtual-network operators, which are companies that use other firms’ networking infrastructures to offer services. Hutchison Whampoa must also continue to participate in a network-sharing agreement with Irish telecommunications provider Eircom. Hutchison Whampoa, which already operates in six European countries, is expanding its holdings in the region. Regulators have been closely monitoring the European telecommunications market in recent months given ongoing consumer concern about consolidation causing rate increases. The EU’s approval of the Hutchison Whampoa deal could clear the way for Telefónica to enter the German market based on its divestiture of this unit. (Reuters)(Businessweek)
