(Refiled to add Reuters Instrument Code (RIC) for Iliad )
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, July 8 (Reuters) - CK Hutchison Holdings and Vimpelcom are set to win EU antitrust approval fortheir deal to merge their rival Italian mobile network operatorsafter agreeing concessions to help a new competitor break intothe market, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Approval of the 21.8-billion-euro ($24.07 billion) deal tomerge Hutchison's 3 Italia with Vimpelcom's WindTelecommunicazioni would be welcome news for the industry afterthe European Commission blocked Hutchison's similar deal in theUK to merge its Three UK subsidiary with Telefonica's O2 UK.
European regulators fear that where such deals reduce thenumber of mobile network operators in a country to just threecompetition would be insufficient to keep a lid on prices.
Combining 3 Italia with Wind would leave Telecom Italia and Vodafone Italia as the only other mobilenetwork operators in Italy and to address the concerns Hutchisonand Vimpelcom have offered to sell some radio frequencies andinfrastructure assets to French telecoms operator Iliad to help it gain a foothold in Italy.
Founded by maverick French businessman Xavier Niel, Iliadcaused a price war in the French mobile market with the itsentry four years ago under its TV, telecoms and Internetservices brand name 'Free'.
Both the Commission, which is scheduled to rule on the caseby Sept. 8, and Iliad declined to comment. Hutchison said it wasconfident of securing EU approval.
($1 = 0.9056 euros) (Additional reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic in Paris andAgnieszka Flak in Milan; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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