European Commission objects to Three’s proposed €850m O2 Ireland acquisition

Bob24

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/35639-european-commission-objects

Interesting development.
I am wondering if the EC can completely block the deal ...

aimee1

I reckon it will go through eventually.

Bob24

Yes I would tend to agree. Waiting to see what arguments Three will have to offer to explain that removing one network and merging 2 companies which together will control 40% of the market will be a good thing for competition :-)

aimee1

Bob24 wrote: »

Yes I would tend to agree. Waiting to see what arguments Three will have to offer to explain that removing one network and merging 2 companies which together will control 40% of the market will be a good thing for competition :-)

http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/european-commission-sets-out-concerns-over-threes-buyout-of-o2-ireland-621597.html

StaticNoise

Europe will allow it go through without an issue, once some things have been cleared up. They're pushing for an abandonment of all roaming charges by 2016, and this is the way forward to achieve that. They want less networks, overall, in a sense. Three UK stripped roaming charges for all content in a number of countries last year, and they found that data usage was increased by 10%. Orange (FR) abolished their charges last week, but plans start at €90, unfortunately.

Brussels think that it would be bad for competition: but we're a small nation with over eight networks (incorporating MVNOs), and that's a lot for a country of our size. Three have big aims (and the Government contracts to match) but fail to reach them due to the resources they have. With O2's masts and infrastructure, it should bring a lot to the table.

Look at it this way: Three have brought a lot of competition to the market. Vodafone (the largest carrier) are one of the most expensive, O2's price plans are all over the place, and Meteor aren't really giving much in terms of their 4G network. Meteor were the big boys for the Pay as you Go promotion back in the day (remember the free picture messages, anyone?), which kickstarted a change for the other providers. Three then launched and blew them all out of the water with free internet. Boom.

Combine these factors with the upcoming end to roaming, and we've got a lot of competition. Three have a bad reputation for customer care and the like, and you can be sure that Vodafone will retain their contracts with large companies and SMEs, because they won't move to an 'unreliable' network like Three. Their customer base won't really be hit. You might even find that many customers would leave the newly merged Three/O2 as they won't like the Customer Care or other services. We're fussy like that, and Irish love to moan and move with their feet.

I can understand the concern of the European Commission, and it is good to have them getting involved with these things, but I don't see this being a major problem. If they sell the Tesco Mobile MVNO (which O2 will), they'll be fine. Blueface will stay (as no other network really provides for them, and their customer base is small), and Lycamobile will stay as they are too. Vodafone have Postfone and others. Meteor have eMobile.
Europe will let this move on.

April 24th is D-Day, and it will probably be 3-Day.


(Disclosure: I'm a grandfathered Three customer, who realises that their customer care is not great, that their data speeds can be miserable, but acknowledges that their price plans are excellent and are better than the other pricey networks)

aimee1

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/retail-and-services/regulators-poised-to-clear-hutchison-s-acquisition-of-o2-1.1798746

StaticNoise

Maybe the network switching problems will be gone once and for all when this goes through.