Brussels, 19/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved Telia/Sonera buyers in the context of the merger of their activities. The Swedish and Finnish operators had to promise to sell up the businesses last year in order to obtain clearance for this operation, and the Commission was still to accept an agreement on who would acquire them. It now approves the fact that the Swedish cable TV company Com hem AB will be sold to EQT Partners AB, on one hand, and that Suomen 2G/DNA will take over the mobile telephony operator, Telia Mobile Finland (TMF), on the other. We recall that, on 10 July 2002, the Commission approved the Telia/Sonera merger subject to compliance with strict conditions, including the sale of two of the businesses. As it was, the merger was likely to pose competition problems in Finland and Sweden given the identity of the partners, both the second largest in the sector in their respective countries, and given the proximity of States in which they operate (see EUROPE of 11 July 202, p.15). The sale of TMF to Suomen will make it possible to keep four third generation mobile communications operators that are competitive on the market, whereas the merger would have housed two of these four licence holders under the same roof. Concerning the sale of Com hem AB to EQT Partners AB, the Commission considers that the sale will create the conditions necessary for establishing greater competition on fixed telephony and Internet access markets, EQT having sufficient funds to develop Com hem activities in this sector in a way that ensures viable competition. Both operators thus respect the two criteria that the Commission is to examine before giving its agreement to the sale of a business to a third party. Furthermore, the buyer must be independent of the seller and, also, must have sufficient funds to allow the activity acquired to become a viable competitor.