Swedish telecoms provider TeliaSonera and Norway's Telenor, Friday announced the withdrawal of the proposed merger of their respective business units in Denmark, citing disagreement with the European Commission's demand for a fourth operator.
The deal which will reduce the number of mobile players from four to three has triggered concern in the European Commission. In December last year, Telenor and TeliaSonera reached an agreement to merge their Danish operations.
Robert Andersson, Executive Vice President and Head of Region Europe in TeliaSonera
Since the beginning, we have been strong advocates for the need to increase investment levels in Denmark. In our view, creating a market player with the scale and ability to compete and invest would ensure that customers and businesses would benefit from better quality, speed and coverage.
Kjell Morten Johnsen, Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor Region Europe
Telenor and TeliaSonera will continue to compete and deliver products and services in the Danish market through our respective original, and still fully up-and-running Danish operations.
