Two UK mobile phone operators have been given permission to share
the costs of establishing a common 3G infrastructure.
The European Commission yesterday gave the go-ahead for mm02 and
T-Mobile to share networks in the UK and follows a similar decision
announced last month concerning the same companies in
Germany.
Other telecommunication companies have one month to comment on the
UK decision before it becomes final. A similar consultation with
the industry in Germany has closed without any changes to the
Commission's decision.
T-Mobile, a unit of German phone giant Deutsche Telekom, and mmO2,
a spin off of British Telecommunications, have agreed to share base
stations and antennae and provide one another with national roaming
facilities.
The agreements also foresee sharing of frequencies on the radio
access network in the two countries but the Commission said it
would delay ruling on this aspect until the operators decide
whether or not to adopt this closer cooperation.
The EC competition authority said the agreements do not relate to
the 3G services that will be offered to consumers. The two
companies will compete for customers and must remain "entirely
independent of each other," the Commission said.
Competition commissioner Mario Monti said on Tuesday that
cooperation deals in the development of 3G "can bring benefits for
the consumer in terms of a faster introduction of new services,
more competition and a lesser impact to the environment".
Meanwhile, the Commission's competition authority is still
investigating a suspected cartel among mobile phone operators to
artificially increase the price of international roaming charges -
the fee a user pays for using his mobile phone abroad.
EU competition officials raided the offices of Vodafone, Deutsche
Telekom, BT and Orange in July last year, in search of evidence of
cartel-like dealings. The Commission is expected to decide whether
or not to begin legal proceedings against the companies before the
end of this year.