The deal, valued at €18.6 billion, will create the largest operator by number of customers in Spain, with more than 7.3 million broadband customers, more than 30 million mobile services and more than 2.2 million television customers.
The conditional EU approval for the merger of Orange SA and Másmóvil Ibericom SA, Spanish mobile phone companies, has taken almost two years to receive approval from Brussels, and given the significant competition measures involved, it is unlikely to unblock other similar transactions. This shows that the EU has not changed its mind on domestic mobile consolidation.
The price Orange and MásMóvil pay for their merger is to turn their Spanish rival Digi Communications NV, a mobile virtual network operator, into a full-fledged competitor through the sale of spectrum and a roaming agreement.
