je.st
news
Orange secures EC approval of EUR 3.4 bln Jazztel takeover
2015-05-19 14:34:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) Orange has secured the European Commission's approval of its EUR 3.4 billion takeover of Spanish broadband operator Jazztel after agreeing to a series of concessions designed to address competition concerns by creating a fourth major player in Spain. Orange's commitments will "ensure that a new operator can enter the Spanish market and be able to compete effectively in markets involving fixed internet access services," said the EC in a statement. The EU's antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager added that the remedies would allow a new player to enter the market and compete as strongly as Orange and Jazztel so that "consumers in Spain would not suffer from higher prices for fixed internet access services." Orange won the EC's approval by agreeing to divest an independent FTTH network covering 700,000-800,000 households in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Malaga, five of the largest Spanish cities. In addition, Orange committed to grant the purchaser of the FTTH network wholesale access to Jazztel's national ADSL network for up to eight years, a commitment that would allow the purchaser to compete immediately on 78 percent of Spanish territory, said the EC. Finally, the buyer would also be given wholesale access to Orange's mobile network including 4G services, if it does not already have access to a mobile network.
Tags: eur
orange
approval
takeover
Category:Telecommunications