T-Mobile UK to Announce Merger with Orange on Tuesday - Report

It is being reported that Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom will announce a "merger of equals" between their respective UK mobile networks early tomorrow morning. Sources familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires that the deal will be signed on Monday and announced before stock markets open on Tuesday.­

The merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK will become the market leader in the country with around 33 million customers and a market share of 42.5%.

The merged companies would however continue to be run as two separate networks, the Dow Jones sources added.

Both, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom declined to comment.

One area which may cause difficulties is the networks respective network sharing agrements. T-Mobile UK is already in a 3G tower sharing deal with Hutchison 3G UK, which aims to reduce their combined assets by around 5,000 towers. Orange is in a sharing agreement with Vodafone, and has been reported to be talking to O2 about a similar arrangement.

On the web: Dow Jones Newswire

Posted to the site on 7th September 2009