In June, the German anti-trust authority (i.e. the Bundeskartellamt) has cleared the takeover of the mobile telecommunications provider Drillisch AG by United Internet AG.
A. Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, commented:”There are three major network operators on the mobile telecommunications market: Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica. If Drillisch joins forces with United Internet, this may have a stimulating effect on the market. The merger therefore does not raise any competition concerns.”
Drillisch is a so-called mobile virtual network operator and does not have a mobile telecommunications network of its own. However, in the context of the Telefónica/E-Plus merger, Telefónica gave an undertaking to the European Commission to grant Drillisch access to up to 30 per cent of the capacities used in the merged Telefónica/E-Plus mobile telecommunications networks. In this context, Drillisch was granted access to 4G (LTE) and other new technologies. With the takeover of Drillisch, United Internet will gain access to these network capacities.
NB: In 2015 the Bundeskartellamt had already cleared the acquisition by United Internet of a minority stake in Drillisch.