(Reuters) – Britain’s competition watchdog has raised concerns over a UK telecom tower deal between Spain’s Cellnex and Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison, saying it could lead to higher prices or lower quality services for network operators.
Cellnex last year had said it would buy 24,600 telecom towers across Europe from CK Hutchison, which owns the Three mobile network in the UK, for 10 billion euros ($11.81 billion).
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Tuesday it found evidence to suggest that CK Hutchison could have sold its passive infrastructure assets, including towers and masts, to an alternative buyer rather than market leader Cellnex.
A sale to a firm other than Cellnex, the largest independent supplier of mobile towers in the UK by some distance, would have increased competition, the CMA said.
“It’s important that services provided to mobile networks remain competitive so that the millions of businesses and consumers across the UK that use mobile phones can enjoy lower prices,” said Mike Walker, chief economic adviser at the CMA.
Cellnex and CK Hutchison have five working days to offer legally binding proposals to the CMA to address the competition concerns identified.
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(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)
