BT on Monday formally submitted its proposed acquisition of EE to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), insisting that the deal will have a beneficial impact on competition in the U.K. telecoms market.
The U.K. incumbent pointed out that if it is permitted to merge with EE, consumers will have more choice when it comes to converged fixed and mobile services, and quad-play bundles.
"Virgin Media and TalkTalk are the current leading providers of such services and BT’s presence will lead to greater competition and better deals," the telco said in a statement.
BT said it has asked the CMA to proceed straight to a phase two investigation of the deal, in a bid to expedite the process. The CMA will rule on that point in around three weeks.
BT ex pects to be able to complete the acquisition by the end of March 2016, just over a year after it agreed definitive terms to buy the mobile operator from parents Orange and Deutsche Telekom for £12.5 billion in cash and stock.
As expected, BT noted that the merger will not reduce the number of mobile networks in the U.K., and that its Openreach network arm will still provide access to rival players on equitable terms, as it does at present.
"The acquisition will lead to greater competition, given our history as a natural and willing wholesaler, enabling other companies to use the networks we own," said BT chief executive Gavin Patterson.
"We provide wholesale access to companies in the broadband market and we are happy to support others who wish to compete in the mobile market as well," he added. "The U.K. is one of the most tightly regulated marketplaces in the world and that will continue to be the case ensuring all companies can compete on a fair basis."
BT’s plan to merge with EE intensified calls in the U.K. for a broader review of the regulatory landscape, with various stakeholders calling for the telco to be fully separated from Openreach.
Regulator Ofcom will consider the position of Openreach as part of a new strategic review, launched in March.
Both the market regulator and the competition authorities will be kept busy in the coming months, since BT is not the only U.K. operator looking to bulk up through M&A.
Hutchison Whampoa’s planned £10.25 billion acquisition of O2 UK will attract a different sort of scrutiny from the BT/EE deal, since if approved it will reduce the number of mobile networks in the U.K. to three from four.
