Scandinavian telecoms operators TeliaSonera and Telenor have offered to sell up to 40% of their joint network infrastructure unit TT-Netvaerket to a new player, in a bid to secure the approval of European Commission (EC) antitrust regulators for their proposed Danish merger, Reuters reports. The proposal comes hot on the heels of an initial offer to sell two lots of 2100MHz spectrum and rent out 15% of their combined network capacity to a new rival, which fell short in early September.
Under the improved offer, the new entrant to the Danish market would take an initial 15% stake in TT-Netvaerket, with an option to increase this by 5% a year until it reaches 40%. The new competitor would have access to the joint venture’s network technologies, in addition to being allowed to sell network capacity on a wholesale basis to other operators. Further, Telenor Denmark is also said to be prepared to divest its BiBoB pre-paid brand to secure the coveted deal.
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 Hi3G 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.