EU opens probe into Hutchison-VimpelCom deal

The European Union (EU) antitrust watchdog on Wednesday opened an in-depth investigation into the proposed joint venture between the telecommunications activities of Hutchison and VimpelCom in Italy.

The European Commission in a statement said it had concerns that the deal between the Italian telecom units could lead to higher prices, less choice and reduced innovation for mobile customers in Italy.

The transaction, valued at 21.8 billion euros (24.7 billion U.S. dollars), would combine Vimpelcom's subsidiary WIND with Hutchison's subsidiary H3G, respectively the third and fourth largest operators in the Italian retail mobile telecommunications market.

It would reduce the number of mobile network operators ("MNOs") in Italy from four to three and would also create the largest player in terms of the number of subscribers, followed by two similar-sized mobile network operators, TIM and Vodafone.

The EU's regulator will in particular examine the extent to which the parties are close competitors, the market incentives that would be faced by the joint venture and the potential response of its competitors, according to the Commission statement.

The EU has set August 10 as the deadline for a decision.

Source: XINHUA