T-Mobile cleared to acquire Orange Netherlands

    BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- T-Mobile Netherlands, a branch of Deutsched Telekom, was cleared Monday by European regulators in the acquisition of telecommunictions company Orange Netherlands.

    In a statement, the European Commission said the deal would "not significantly impede effective competition" in EU markets.

    Orange has about 1.9 million cell phone customers and 612,000 Internet users in the Netherlands, and is currently owned by France Telecom.

    The merger would make T-Mobile the second-largest mobile phone operator in terms of subscribers in the Dutch market and the third-largest operator in terms of revenue, the Commission said.

    KPN remains the market leader, and the new entity would be have a similar strength to the other main player, Vodafone, the EU executive agency added.

    In June, Deutsche Telekom AG said it will buy France Telecom SA's cell phone unit and Orange Netherlands in a deal that will see the Germany company sell its Spanish unit Ya.com to the French firm.

    (Agencies)