Following the growing impetus for mobile industry consolidation in Europe (Mobile merger concessions sought), the FT concluded that "pressure is intensifying for France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom to make concessions to gain regulatory approval for the proposed merger of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK".
James Barford was asked for his view. He said the Orange/T-Mobile entity would probably have to make “very significant concessions” during a Competition Commission investigation, and did not rule out the proposed merger being vetoed.
04 Feb 2010
Bloomberg
In anticipation of regulatory reaction to proposals for consolidation in European mobile telecoms (Orange, T-Mobile Deal a Competition Threat, U.K. Says), Bloomberg inferred that "UK authorities want to review the merger of France Telecom SA and Deutsche Telekom AG’s British units, telling European Union authorities that the deal may significantly affect competition in the country".
James Barford was asked to comment. He said that a review by the UK’s Competition Commission, if begun, "is probably going to result in the merged company having to make very significant concessions, with the not insignificant chance of an outright ban.”
03 Feb 2010
The Times
Drawing attention to the emergence of new online communities of professionals seeking employment opportunities (Hedgehogs – the social network for bankers), The Times commented: "Huge numbers of redundancies have meant that go-it-alone bankers have found themselves without the level of support that once they were accustomed to".
Ian Maude was asked for his view. He agreed that there is a case for bringing virtual communities together, but cautioned that such sites need to offer more than mere social benefits to succeed. He said: “A lot of these people already have their own networks through the traditional social media sites. What new sites have to ask themselves is what is they offer in addition.”
