Chile’s National Economic Prosecutor (Fiscalia Nacional Economica, FNE) has greenlit the merger of VTR and Claro Chile, stating that the tie-up does not represent a risk to competition in the telecommunications sector, Diario Financiero reports. The FNE’s finding did note, however, that there was a potential concentration of spectrum resources and, as such, Claro will be required to return 10MHz from each of the 3.5GHz and 1700MHz bands. Claro will also be required to spin off and sell its satellite TV business. The latter requirement relates to a ruling on an earlier merger that had prohibited VTR from entering the satellite TV segment. The FNE expects competitive pressures in the mobile, fixed broadband and pay TV segments sufficient to keep the merged entity in check.
As noted by TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, America Movil (AM) and Liberty Global – the parent companies of Claro and VTR, respectively – announced plans to form a new 50/50 joint venture in September last year. Neither company will consolidate the combined company.