The Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) has set a final date of 5 February to decide on the merger of TeliaSonera and Tele2’s local units after TeliaSonera submitted revised remedies yesterday.
On 1 December, the NCA issued a statement of objections…
The Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) has set a final date of 5 February to decide on the merger of TeliaSonera and Tele2’s local units after TeliaSonera submitted revised remedies yesterday.
On 1 December, the NCA issued a statement of objections against the SKr5.1bn (US$744m) transaction, which would reduce the number of established mobile network operators in the country from three to two.
The regulator was concerned that the tie-up would lead to higher prices and lower quality for consumers and gave the operators until 15 January to address its concerns.
NCA director Gjermund Nese has said that 5 February will be the absolute deadline for the completion of the case.
In a statement, TeliaSonera said its updated remedy package would guarantee continued strong competition in the Norwegian mobile market.
“We strongly believe in this acquisition and it’s our ambition to close the transaction this quarter,” said Robert Andersson, TeliaSonera’s head of Europe.
When the deal was first announced in July, TeliaSonera offered to speed up its 4G rollout to cover 98% of the population by 2016, instead of 2018, as an olive branch to regulators.
Tele2 also took steps to appease the NCA. At the start of October, it inked an agreement with new entrant Access Industries-owned Ice Communication to use some of its 900 MHz spectrum until April 2015. In return, Ice will be able to buy parts of Tele2’s Norwegian network infrastructure once its merger with TeliaSonera closes, providing NCA approves the deal.
When Tele2’s pact with Ice was announced, TeliaSonera Norway CEO August Baumann said the company would help “to meet the political target according to which there should be three mobile networks in the country”.
Access disrupted Norway’s mobile sector when it beat Tele2 to spectrum in an auction last year. But Ice currently has only a small share of the market, offering rural services using 450 MHz airwaves.
TeliaSonera’s acquisition of Tele2 Norway would boost its market share from 23% to around 40%, with 2.7 million subscribers. That would still leave it behind incumbent Telenor, which has roughly 3.2 million customers.
