IP/04/1140

Brussels, 24 September 2004

Commission clears TeliaSonera’s acquisition of Orange’s Danish mobile telephony business

The European Commission has granted regulatory approval to the acquisition by the Swedish telecommunications company TeliaSonera of Orange’ Danish mobile telephony business. The operation does not raise any competition concerns given the presence of strong competitors in the mobile telecommunications services market in Denmark.

On 20 August 2004 the Commission received a notification whereby TeliaSonera notified its acquisition of the Danish mobile telephony business of Orange.

TeliaSonera is a telecommunications company based in Sweden operating primarily in the Nordic and Baltic area. TeliaSonera is the fourth largest mobile telecommunications company in Denmark and it also operates within the area of fixed telephony, internet broadband, cable TV and data communication.

Orange’s ultimate parent company is France Telecom. Orange is the third largest mobile telecommunications company in Denmark and has been present in the Danish market since 1997. In addition to its mobile telecommunications business, Orange has very limited business in fixed networks and data communications.

The Commission investigated the competitive effects of the proposed transaction on the markets for mobile telecommunications in Denmark. Since both TeliaSonera and Orange operate mobile telecommunications networks, the proposed transaction will reduce the number of competing second-generation networks in Denmark from four to three. However, the Commission found that the competitive effects of the proposed transaction will be limited in scope, both on the wholesale markets and retail markets for mobile telephony. The merger will create the third largest mobile operator on the Danish market, but the merged entity will continue to face competition from the two largest mobile operators TDC and Sonofon.