Brussels, 16/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, seems unconvinced by the argument that telecommunications operators cannot grow their investments unless they merge with their rivals in the same country.
“I've heard this claim quite often, but I have not seen evidence that this is the case”, Vestager told an event in Paris on Monday 15 June. “Instead, there is ample evidence that excessive consolidation may lead not only to less competition and more expensive bills for consumers, but that it also reduces the incentives in national markets to innovate”, she went on.
Vestager drew on the example of the French market, in which a newcomer - Free Mobile - entered the market in 2009. “Following that entry, the overall level of telecoms investment in France grew, and remains at higher levels than at the moment of its entry”, she said. Lastly, the Danish Commissioner stressed that on these markets, it has already been seen that established players sometimes abuse their dominant positions to try to block competition from alternative operators. “And we shouldn't forget that these alternative operators are also behind major network investments in the EU”, she concluded. (Elodie Lamer)