Category: Global Blogs

France: Numericable, SFR brings major competition concerns (Competition Policy International)

Competition authorities in France are reportedly planning an investigation into the proposed acquisition of telco SFR by cable operator Numericable.

Numericable won out in a bidding war to acquire SFR from current owner Vivendi. Vivendi reportedly chose Numericable to buy the assets over Bouygues Telecom, citing competition concerns that both SFR …read more

US: Sprint, T-Mobile hit the breaks on merger (Competition Policy International)

The latest reports in Sprint’s efforts to acquire T-Mobile and create a new, third-place wireless player in the US industry say the companies are not putting their merger plans on hold.

Reports say Sprint parent SoftBank is not looking to strike an acquisition of Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile in haste as the …read more

US: Sprint faces surprise T-Mobile merger competition (Competition Policy International)

French telecommunications giant Iliad is reportedly looking to acquire a majority stake in US-based T-Mobile despite news that Sprint is seeking a merger with the wireless company.

Iliad, France’s fourth-place wireless operator, confirmed Thursday that it submitted a bid worth $15 billion to acquire the T-Mobile shares. According to reports, T-Mobile …read more

EU: Bank overhaul propels single payment zone (Competition Policy International)

The European Commission announced Thursday that EU banks are set to finalize an overhaul by Friday that will standardize payment processing and remove any distinctions between cross-border or domestic transfers, say reports.

The Commission’s announcement says the move “will greatly facilitate euro payments for citizens and businesses and increase competition …read more