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EC's Ansip backs cross-border, not intra-country mergers
2015-10-13 16:18:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Andrus Ansip, the European Commission VP for the Digital Single Market, has suggested the EC is more in favour of cross-border than intra-country consolidation in the telecoms market. In a speech at the FT-ETNO Summit in Brussels, Ansip acknowledged that a "degree of consolidation" can bring potential benefits, and as an example, he pointed to cross-border consolidation, which can led to integrated, pan-European networks and expansion opportunities for operators as they tap into larger populations. However, the commissioner noted that "industry consolidation is not necessarily the answer" to ensuring competition. Most mobile operators are already investing in 4G without the need to resort to mergers, and network-sharing technologies allow them to share infrastructure in order to reduce costs, without the need for full mergers, he said. His comments come as the industry group ETNO published a new report by Boston Consulting Group that underlined the need to rethink the EU's competition rules and merger review criteria for telecoms deals. The report said the EC should lessen its focus on price in merger reviews and look more at the impact of consolidation on investment and the increasing competition from new services providers in the telecom market.
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Category:Telecommunications