A operadora, que na Espanha está em processo de fusão com a MásMóvil, concorda em abrir sua rede fixa à rival Telenet por um período de 10 anos
The European Commission has agreed, with conditions, to buy Belgian operators VOO and Brutélé from Orange. The pre-approval could set a precedent for the merger in Spain between Orange and MásMóvil, which is being analyzed by the Community Competition Authorities.
The decision follows an in-depth investigation by Brussels, which indicated that approval is conditional on full compliance with the package of commitments presented by Orange.
According to a statement from the European Commission, the French group provides mobile and fixed retail services in Belgium, while VOO and Brutélé are joint leaders in mobile and fixed services. In fact, Orange is the second largest operator in Belgium, while the other two operators will be the second largest provider of fixed services through its network.
Among other things, Orange agreed to give Telenet, one of its competitors in the country, access to its networks for 10 years. On the one hand, it will provide access to the fixed network of Brutélé and VOO in the Wallonia region and part of Brussels. On the other hand, Orange will open the FTTP fiber optic network that it plans to deploy in the coming years, which will make future-proof commitments.
Telenet is a subsidiary of Liberty Global, which operates in northern Belgium.
According to the commission, the proposed commitments would replace Orange, the access browser to the VOO and Brutélé networks in the Walloon region and parts of Brussels, with Telenet, which would be the new access group on these networks.
The European Commission refers that the merger will reduce from three to two the number of operators in the areas covered by VOO and Brutélé, reducing competition in their markets for services such as Internet access, audiovisual services or similar prices.
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