Brussels, 22/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has cleared the proposal for acquisition of the Dutch telecommunications company, Equant, by France Telecom. It considers that there would continue to be sufficient competition on the telecommunications market after the operation. According to the terms of the agreement notified to the Commission on 29 January, the French operator will acquire the stake held by SITA, a non-profit making organisation that provides global telecommunications services to the air transport sector, in Equant. The agreement provides for the later integration of Global One, a 100% subsidiary of France Telecom specialised in the field of global telecommunications, in the new entity that will be controlled by the French operator. The Commission examined whether this operation would create or strengthen a dominant position on one of the world telecommunications services markets where Equant and Global One are both present. To do this, three groups of customers were targeted by its inquiry, namely air companies, consumers in France and other customers with specific needs in data network management services. The results allowed the Commission to conclude that the transaction would not increase France Telecom's power towards any of these customers. The Community Executive, moreover, noted that there were other suppliers of this kind of service such as Concert, WorldCom, Cable & Wireless and Infonet, all able to provide effective competition. Given the above elements, the Commission did not see any obstacle to approval of the operation.