Total Telecom – Blocking 3UK/O2 deal would send ominous message to investors
Blocking 3UK’s proposed acquisition of O2 would send a negative message to investors, particularly in light of Ofcom’s recent decision to approve BT’s EE buy.
“Ofcom quite easily approved BT/EE, creating a £24 billion-revenue company,” said Bengt Nordström, CEO of Swedish telco consultancy Northstream, during Mobile World Congress this week.
While BT and EE come from the fixed and mobile worlds respectively, their merger is still “full of potential synergies” in areas such as IT and customer service, which has significant implications for the size of investments the merged entity will be able to make, he explained toTotal Telecom.
“So when they say O2 and 3 can’t merge, it looks odd to me.”
