Major mobile merger blocked in UK as EU says 'enough is enough' - CNET

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Competition watchdogs have blocked a proposed merger between two of the UK's major mobile companies, potentially signalling an end to several years of upheaval in the British phone market.

The proposed merger of O2, owned by Telefónica, and Three, owned by Hutchison, would have created a new market leader.

But after a spate of recent mergers and acquisitions, EU competition authorities "have said 'enough is enough'," according to industry expert Professor John Colley of Warwick Business School.

Britain's phone market has drastically transformed in the past few years. Of the major players, T-Mobile merged with Orange to become EE, which has in tu been swallowed up by BT. Although a range of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) keep prices relatively low in the UK, the proposed merger of Three with O2 would have further reduced the number of major networks that operate their own infrastructure.