The Norwegian Competition Authority has decided to continue its investigation of TeliaSonera and Tele2’s units in the country that would shrink the mobile market from three scaled operators to two.
A deadline for the review has now been set for 11…
The Norwegian Competition Authority has decided to continue its investigation of TeliaSonera and Tele2’s units in the country that would shrink the mobile market from three scaled operators to two.
A deadline for the review has now been set for 11 November, although the antitrust regulator can close its investigation without making a decision to intervene at any time.
TeliaSonera agreed to buy Tele2 Norway in July for SKr5.1bn (US$744m) after the target lost out in last December’s 4G auction.
In a statement Kjersti Bruaas, who is leading the review, said: “The acquisition would combine two of the three largest mobile network operators in Norway.
“The Competition Authority continues to assess whether this acquisition will lead to a restriction of competition and whether this will harm consumers through higher prices and lower quality.”
The merger has already caused the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (NPT) to scrap the January 2015 date it had set to auction off 1,800 MHz spectrum.
In late August, the telecoms regulator said the takeover had significantly changed the market and meant the spectrum tender required a rethink.
TeliaSonera has previously said buying Tele2 Norway would boost its market share from 23% to around 40% with 2.7 million subscribers, but that it would still be behind the country’s incumbent, Telenor, which has 3.2 million customers.
When the deal was announced, it had hoped to clear the deal before the end of Q1 2015.
