Brussels, 20/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Belgacom and Swisscom have received a go-ahead from the European Commission for their proposed joint venture in the field of international telecommunications carrier services. The partnership between the incumbent telecommunications operator in Belgium and that of Switzerland will not significantly hamper competition within the European Economic Area (EEA), the Commission said. Belgacom is controlled by the Belgian State, which owns 50% of its share capital. It provides a full range of telecommunications services including wholesale and retail services, fixed and mobile telecommunications, voice and data services and Internet access. Operating in the same fields, Swisscom is also a public company, with the Swiss Confederation controlling 62.7% of the share capital. Currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Belgacom, BICS was created in 2005 through a spin-off of all Belgacom's existing international telecommunications carrier services activities and related services. As a result of the transaction, Swisscom will acquire 28% of the shares of Belgacom International Carrier Services SA in compensation for which it will contribute its international telecommunications carrier services activities and related assets to the joint venture. According to the Commission, the move does not entail any difficulties either on the horizontal or vertical level, as any possible overlapping of activities and vertical relationships are limited.