LONDON (Alliance News) - BT Group PLC Chief Executive Gavin Patterson said Wednesday that BT's proposed acquisition of EE will create a "true UK digital champion", and argued that other companies in the UK would be able to benefit and compete through "highly regulated, equal access" to Openreach's broadband network and wholesale access to EE's mobile network.
BT's GBP12.5 billion deal to acquire EE has been fast-tracked to a phase 2 investigation - which involves a deeper probe - by the UK Competition and Markets authority at BT's request.
The CMA agreed to fast track the investigation to Phase 2 as there is a "realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition in relation to the supply of wholesale access and call origination services to mobile virtual network operators and fibre mobile backhaul services to mobile network operators in the UK".
EE Chief Executive Olaf Swantee on Wednesday argued the deal would result in continued investment. "A world-leading, combined fixed and mobile, digital infrastructure will sit at the heart of a successful UK economy," Swantee said. "The success of the UK in the future will be built on its ability to deliver real-time, data-heavy information through leading-edge network technology. Bringing BT and EE together makes that possible."
Swantee claimed that competitors looking to obstruct the deal "only want to put up roadblocks".
BT's deal has come under fire from peers over concerns over competition, with Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao telling journalists at the time of Vodafone's full-year results that the deal needs to be "watched with extreme care" as competition in the UK market needs to remain healthy.
The EE and BT executives were speaking at the launch of a report by Rob Kenny of Communications Chambers, which was commissioned by BT.
Kenny's report says: "The merger has the potential to generate a wide array of customer benefits driven by enhanced investment, innovation, efficiency and competition for converged services. Notwithstanding the merger, the UK would continue to be a well-contested market by comparison to its European peers, with some of the most pro-competitive market interventions globally."
Shares in BT are trading up 0.8% at 448.70 pence Wednesday afternoon.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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