An appeal from the Office of Fair Trading is expected to be rejected this week so T-Mobile and Orange will have clear grounds on which to continue their merger.

The EC is believed to have already made their decision but are yet to officially inform the OFT that believes the merger will reduce competition significantly. Assurances from Orange and T-Mobile promised they would guard 3′s future, UK’s smallest operator. And have already agreed to expand their network share with 3 mobile to 16,000 mast sites in the UK. After all, it is believed that 3 Mobile was the OFT’s primary concern in their appeal to the commission.

Orange and T-Mobile have also given up a quarter of their collective 1800Mhz spectrum though both Vodafone and O2 have pushed the merged companies to give up more of their spectrum, which is used for 2G calls and possibly, 3G.

The consumer group, Which?, have already pushed for an investigation as the merger could own their market and rise the cost of phone contracts.

Chief executive of Which?, Peter Vicary-Smith, said:
“It’s only right that a deal affecting UK consumers should be scrutinised by UK regulators.”

However, the T-Mobile and Orange merger should be confirmed this week.

by Richard Armitage