The European Commission has agreed in principle to permit mobile
phone operators mm02 and T-Mobile to pool their resources to
develop third generation infrastructure in Germany. The Commission
is expecting to announce a similar decision concerning the UK
within a month, said a spokeswoman.
Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile and mm02, the former mobile phone
division of British Telecom, last month notified the European Union
competition authority of their plans to co-operate.
The companies believe they can make 30% savings through joining
forces to build base stations and antennae for the high-speed
mobile technology.
"The Commission concluded after looking closely at the proposed
cost-sharing initiative that it would not be anti-competitive and
would benefit consumers, as it will hasten the roll-out of 3G
services," said Amelia Torres, spokeswoman on competition
issues.
The Commission is still considering whether to allow the two
companies to share radio frequencies, however.
In spring of this year a rift emerged between two of the European
Commission's top officials over how to deal with the mobile phone
sector, which has bben hit hard by the economic slowdown.
The European Commissioner for the information society, Erkki
Liikaanen, wanted to grant the struggling firms some immunity from
the tough competition rules, but his colleague Mario Monti, in
charge of competition, insisted that the rules must apply "during
economic downturns as well as during boom times".
Monti's spokeswoman said his position remains unchanged and denied
that the commissioner has changed his tune. "Mr Monti was not
opposed to such partnerships. He said he would look closely at such
plans because of the relatively few number of players in the mobile
phone market, and that is what he has done," Torres said.
The European Commission will probably make a final decision on the
cost-sharing plans of mm02 and T-Mobile in Germany and the UK next
month, after it has received comments on the plans from rival
mobile phone operators in the two countries.