TeliaSonera has submitted a new proposal to Norway’s competition body in a bid to win its approval for the telco’s planned acquisition of Tele2’s local unit.
The Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) this week issued a short statement confirming that TeliaSonera has proposed new remedies for the deal, but said it is unable to comment on the content of the proposal.
TeliaSonera agreed in July to pay 5.1 billion Swedish kronor (€547.7 million) for Tele2’s Norwegian operations with a view to merging them with its NetCom business.
However, the deal has attracted regulatory scrutiny since it effectively reduces the number of mobile network operators in Norway to just two from three. TeliaSonera and Tele2 both compete with incumbent and market leader Telenor. There is a fourth licensed operator in the country, ice.net, but it only offers data services.
In December the NCA objected to the takeover on the grounds that it would lead to higher prices and poorer quality services for consumers. The authority said it would consider blocking the deal, despite the fact that TeliaSonera had suggested a number of remedies, including accelerating its 4G rollout.
TeliaSonera lodged its new remedy proposal on Wednesday. As a result, the NCA extended its deadline for ruling on the transaction to 5 February. This will be "an absolute deadline for completion of the case," NCA director Gjermund Nese said.
