COMMISSION OPPOSED TO TAKEOVER OF TELERING BY DEUTSCHE TELEKOM.

• Position: European Commission - Brief Article

The acquisition by Deutsche Telekom of the Austrian mobile telephony operator Telering has come up against opposition from the European Commission, the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) reported on February 20. The deal in its current state is "irreconcilable" with EU internal market rules since it would "severely restrict" competition on the Austrian mobile telephony market, according to a confidential interim Commission report obtained by the FTD. The European Commission announced the launch in mid-November of an in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of Telering by Deustche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile Austria.

Noting that there are only three other mobile network operators in Austria (Mobilkom, ONE and H3G)...