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By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - CK Hutchison Holdings won EU approval on Thursday for the planned merger of itsItalian mobile unit with that of VimpelCom, afterpledging to help French maverick Iliad enter theItalian market.
The EU green light will come as a relief to the telecomsindustry after a regulatory veto in May on Hutchison's bid tocombine its Three UK subsidiary with Telefonica's O2 UKbecause it had failed to allay competition concerns.
The telecoms industry has seen a spate of mergers in recentyears as companies bulk up to invest in expensive high-speednetworks.
The EU antitrust enforcer said concessions offered byHutchison in the Italian deal would ensure a fourth telecomsoperator in Italy.
"I'm particularly happy about the solution because itstructurally ... solves all the concerns we have. It allowsIliad to come in, in a transition period, while they start toinvest," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestagertold Reuters in an interview.
"So you have a merger, you have a new entrant, and you haveinvestment in networks that everyone wants," she said.
Hutchison will sell some radio frequencies and will alsoshare or transfer several thousand mobile base station sites toIliad. A transitional agreement will give Iliad access to themerged company's 2G, 3G, 4G and other new technologies.
Founded by French entrepreneur Xavier Niel, Iliad sparked aprice war in the French mobile market with its entry four yearsago under its TV, telecoms and internet services brand Free.
The 21.8 billion euro ($24.3 billion) deal combiningHutchison's 3 Italia with VimpelCom's Wind will be better ableto compete with rivals Telecom Italia and VodafoneItalia, part of Vodafone Group. ($1 = 0.8970 euros) (Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and David Holmes)
Vodafone (VOD)