The merger of Orange and T-Mobile is expected to be granted regulatory approval as early as this week, reports in various UK dailies said. The European Commission is understood to be planning to reject an appeal from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for the inquiry to be passed back to the UK regulator. It is understood that the commission has made its decision but has not yet informed the OFT, which fears the merger will "significantly" reduce competition. The commission made its decision after receiving assurances from Orange and T-Mobile that they would safeguard the future of 3 UK. Over the weekend, Orange and T-Mobile agreed to extend a network sharing deal with 3 UK to 16,000 mast sites across the UK. It is understood that it was the potentially precarious position of 3 that spurred the OFT into requesting control of the investigation earlier this month. The OFT is expected to release a statement saying it fears the merger will reduce mobile competition to three players from five, unless the future of 3 is secured. Orange and T-Mobile have also agreed to relinquish 25 percent of their combined 1800 MHz spectrum. Competitors Vodafone and O2 have pushed for the merged entity to relinquish more of the spectrum; both companies declined to comment on whether they will launch an official challenge. The commission has until 1 March to make an official decision.
