The European Commission has approved the sale of Belgian mobile operator Base by KPN to Telenet, the Belgian cable operator controlled by Liberty Global. The acquisition was first announced in April 2015, for EUR 1.325 billion. The clearance takes account of concessions offered by Telenet to ensure competition from MVNOs on the Belgian market.
Base is Belgium's smallest mobile operator, but served as a challenger on the market with its relatively low-price offers. Telenet is already the country's largest MVNO. "Without effective commitments, a merger of these two dynamic players would have significantly reduced competition, with a risk of higher prices and less choice and innovation for Belgian mobile consumers," the EC said. To allay these concerns, Base agreed to transfer two of the country's largest MVNOs, Mobile Vikings and Jim Mobile, to the company Medialaan, which will use this to develop into a full MVNO and stronger competitor on the mobile market. Liberty Global also agreed preferred conditions for Medialaan to continue using Base's network.
The Commission also investigated concerns raised by competitors that, after the acquisition, Liberty Global would be able to exclude competitors from the market by bundling fixed and mobile services in packages. The EC said it did not find these concerns justified, given that Telenet already bundles fixed and mobile services. In addition, the Commission looked at whether the acquisition would result in worse wholesale access conditions for MVNOs, but said it saw no reason for the incentives for Base to grant wholesale access to its network to change after the merger.
Telenet said it expects to complete the takeover of Base in the coming days. After that it will sell Base's 50 percent stake in Mobile Vikings to Medialaan, and over time the Jim Mobile customers will also be transferred to Medialaan.
Source: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/ec-approves-telenet-takeover-of-base--1126366
