Orange, T-Mobile Deal a Competition Threat, UK Says

UK authorities asked to investigate the merger of France Telecom SA and Deutsche Telekom AG's British units, saying the deal may significantly "affect competition" in the country.

The Office of Fair Trading asked the European Commission, which has authority over the merger, to transfer the case to the UK. Consumer groups and competitors Telefonica SA and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. pushed for a U.K. review of the deal, which would create the country's largest mobile operator with about 43 percent of subscriptions. Since 2004 the OFT has made four requests to take over an EU merger case, later withdrawing one, according to the regulator.