Vodafone’s acquisition of 365 approved by regulator

The Icelandic Competition Authority (ICA) has granted its conditional approval to Vodafone Iceland’s (Fjarskipti’s) acquisition of ‘a large portion of the telecoms and media businesses’ of 365 Media, which operates in the fields of television and radio broadcasting and printed publications. Vodafone said that the deal excludes some of 365’s printed publications (Frettabladid and Glamour). In a bid to preserve competition in the telecoms/media markets, the ICA imposed a number of conditions on Vodafone, including a requirement to offer wholesale TV services and access to its IPTV platform. To that end, Vodafone has entered into a wholesale TV/IPTV agreement with Hringdu. The ISK8 billion (USD75.8 million) deal – which was agreed in March 2017 – is now expected to close on 1 December. TeleGeography notes that 365 currently uses Vodafone’s network to resell fixed and mobile services and Siminn’s 3G/4G network to provide mobile broadband access.