BRUSSELS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Telefonica has asked EUantitrust regulators to clear its planned 8.6-billion-euro($11.6 billion) takeover of KPN's German unit E-Plus,which will reinforce the Spanish telecoms provider againstrivals Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone.
The deal will boost Telefonica's share of German mobileservice revenues to about 30 percent, behind leaders DeutscheTelekom and Vodafone.
The European Commission said on its website it would decideby Dec. 6 whether to approve the deal, which will reduce thenumber of mobile operators in Germany to three from four, ascenario which typically alarms competition regulators.
Analysts say the preliminary review is likely to extend intoan in-depth investigation which could take up to five months.Telefonica could allay competition concerns by divestingspectrum and making it easy for rivals to access its network.