Telekom Austria this week announced it has gained Macedonian competition authority approval for the merger of its mobile operations in the country with those of Telekom Slovenije.
The Macedonian Commission for Protection of Competition has given the green light to plans to merge Telekom Austria’s Vip Operator with Telekom Slovenije’s One, subject to certain conditions.
These conditions include a commitment from the merged entity to offer access to its infrastructure to mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).
The telcos "are convinced that the proposed commitments provide a good basis for a successful market entry of new participants on the market that will be able to combine mobile and TV offers within creative and valuable convergent bundles," Telekom Austria said, in a statement.
"This ensures competition on price and product level on all affected markets."
The merged entity will have the scale and capacity to invest and to compete on price and quality, Telekom Austria added.
"The merger will ultimately be beneficial for both competition and Macedonian customers and foster one.Vip as [a] reliable partner for Macedonian economy and society," it said.
The telcos expect to close the deal in the fourth quarter of the year, roughly a year after they announced the merger.
Telekom Austria will take a 55% stake in the merged entity, which will be known as one.Vip, with Telekom Slovenije holding the remainder. However, the merger agreement makes provision for Telekom Slovenije to exit the joint venture within three years via call and put options.
One.Vip brings together the second and third largest mobile operators in Macedonia, creating a new market leader.
Number two player Vip had a 27.6% share of the country’s 2.24 million mobile customers as of mid-2014, according to the most recent available figures from Macedonia’s Agency for Electronic Communications, or AEK, while One had 25.1%.
Thus, One.Vip’s market share will stand at around 52.7%, putting it ahead of current leader T-Mobile, which serves 46.1% of mobile users.
