Scandinavian telecoms giants TeliaSonera and Telenor have submitted proposed concessions on their planned Danish merger to the European Commission (EC), Reuters reports. Late last week the pair made undisclosed commitments to the EC, which triggered a 15-working-day extension of the deadline to decide the case, from 16 September to 7 October.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, Telenor and TeliaSonera (which operates as Telia in Denmark) unveiled plans to merge their Danish operations into a 50/50 joint venture in December last year. The EC opened an investigation into the deal in April, expressing concerns that it could reduce competition in the local mobile market and lead to higher prices for consumers. The Commission warned that the market’s smallest player, Hutchison-backed 3, and incumbent operator TDC could struggle to compete with the merged entity. As such, the EC laid out its objections to the deal in June.
Although the details of the proposed concessions remain unclear, the telcos are said to be upbeat that the merger will be approved by year-end.