News

The Swiss Competition Commission has blocked the proposed merger between France Telecom and the Danish TDC.



The regulator says that the merger would allow for market domination by the merged entity and Swisscom and would hurt consumer interests. The decision comes just a day after the Swiss financial regulator decided to introduce stricter rules for the nation's banks.



Swisscom is the country's largest teleco with a 62% share in Switzerland's mobile market. France Telecom and TDC hold market shares of 17.3% and 20.6%, respectively.



The decision is appealable under Swiss law and the companies are said to be looking at other options to finalise the merger.



Industry commentators have said that this should not be seen as a sign that consolidation of European telco markets is on the decline. The Swiss market currently has only three key players and this merger would have reduced it to two. By contrast, most European markets have four dominant mobile operators.



Nevertheless, this decision has come as a surprise, and there is yet a possibility that the companies will come to an understanding with the Swiss regulator to share network infrastructure while maintaining some retail competition.