FRANKFURT, July 23 (Reuters) - E-Plus, the German mobilephone operator, expects regulators may demand remedies in orderto approve its sale to Telefonica Deutschland for some 8.1billion euros ($10.7 billion), its CEO told Reuters.
"It was that way with the merger of Hutchison with Orange inAustria," Thorsten Dirks told Reuters in an interview on Tuesdayafter KPN announced it was selling E-Plus to Telefonica, whichoperates the O2 brand.
Because of its size and cross-border implications, theEuropean Commission's antitrust watchdog will closely evaluatethe deal's impact on consumers and network quality in Germany.
In recent deals where operators sought to take markets fromfour to three players, as would be the case here, regulatorshave demanded concessions such as spectrum divestments andpledges to offer competitive rental terms to rivals.
Dirks said that one aspect that could come under scrutinywas the two companies' combined spectrum.
"If you were to look at the spectrum of a combined E-Plusand O2, you would quickly see that it is relatively largecompared to that of competitors," Dirks said.
"It's easy to imagine that the regulators would look closelyat this aspect."
Vodafone (VOD)
