Press release
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of Tiscali UK Ltd, a subsidiary of Tiscali SpA of Italy, by The Carphone Warehouse Group Plc of the UK . The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
Carphone Warehouse is active in the sale of mobile handsets, mobile connections and a range of associated devices, such as laptops. In the UK, it acts as a broadband and narrowband internet access provider, fixed-line and mobile telecommunication services operator and as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) for domestic and business customers.
Tiscali UK is a telecommunications and internet service provider (ISP) supplying broadband and narrowband internet access services, fixed-line telecommunication services and digital TV services to business and domestic customers. It is only active in the UK.
The activities of Carphone Warehouse and Tiscali UK overlap horizontally in retail and wholesale internet access provision, as well as in retail fixed line telephony services. The Commission's analysis focused in particular on the domestic sector of broadband services, where the merged entity will become one of the main competitors to the incumbent operator BT.
The Commission's examination of the proposed transaction showed that none of the above markets would give rise to competition concerns. The new entity will continue to face competition from a number of strong players, especially BT, as well as from a number of strong alternative operators, including those based on the cable platform. Competition from other technologies, such as mobile telecommunications, is also growing.
More information on the case will be available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases/index/m110.html#m_5532
