Fusion Orange and Sunrise prohibited - April 22, 2010
The decision of the Swiss Competition Commission (Comco) is final: France Telecom and TDC, the Danish operator, will not merge the two subsidiaries, Orange and Sunrise in Switzerland. According to a statement from the Competition Commission published today, the company created by this merger would be found, with the operator Swisscom, "a collective dominant position, likely to remove effective competition, no new entrants have been able to exert a disciplining power.
For both companies, he was then "more profitable to maintain a high level of prices than addressing each in its competitor in order to take away market share," fears the competition authority. According to her, even the synergies possible from this merger, would "not enough to offset the negative effects on competition expected in a merger.The Competition Commission said that "with three network operators, however, some momentum is maintained on the Swiss market of mobile telephony and it remains open to any innovations.
"Disappointed"
For Orange and TDC, this decision is incomprehensible. In a statement, the French operator, said he was "disappointed and surprised by this decision." According to the two groups, the proposed merger and the substantial commitments that they had proposed to implement "would have benefited the Swiss consumers. Without this, the dominance of Swisscom Swiss telecommunications market has perpetuated.Unlike the Competition Commission, France Telecom and TDC say they believe that the synergies in the combined entity would offer more attractive prices, products and innovative services and improved access to a network of international communications. "
Consequently, the two groups do not have to stay on this decision. They now wish to "evaluate the options available to them in preparation for possible next steps."
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