Orange mobile merger given the green light

THE creation of Britain's largest mobile phone operator was given the green light yesterday, as regulators cleared the merger of Orange and T-Mobile.

The Office for Fair Trading said it had withdrawn its concerns over the joint venture, and the European Commission backed the deal after both firms agreed to concessions designed to assuage industry fears.

The tie-up between France Telecom's Orange and Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile – currently the UK's third and fourth largest operators – will give the combined firms a 37 per cent market share and nearly 30 million customers.