The European Commission has approved two telecoms deals — one involving Telecom Italia Sparkle in Italy and another involving MasOrange in Spain — after concluding neither would raise competition concerns.
The Commission cleared the acquisition of joint control of Telecom Italia Sparkle S.p.A. by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and Retelit S.p.A., it reported on Monday.
The transaction mainly involves cable landing stations, which connect submarine internet cables to networks on land, and related “backhaul” services that carry data from those landing points to the wider network, according to the Commission.
It said the deal would have a limited impact on competition, with combined market shares remaining “moderate” where the companies’ activities overlap and “several viable alternative providers” still available.
The merged business would also not have the ability or incentive to shut out rival backhaul providers.
Orange cleared to take sole control of MasOrange
In a separate decision, the Commission approved Orange S.A. of France acquiring sole control of MasOrange, S.L. of Spain.
The deal relates mainly to Spain’s mobile and fixed electronic communications markets.
The regulator said it found no competition concerns because of the transaction’s limited impact on market structure, and it reviewed the case under the simplified merger procedure.
