Mobile Operators Turn to Merger Lite as Watchdogs Stop Deals

Phone-company executives gathering at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week will be looking for network-sharing deals to divvy up the costs of high- speed systems for bandwidth-hogging video and gaming services.

As data-hungry devices are unveiled at the industry’s biggest annual event, France Telecom SA, Vodafone Group Plc and Deutsche Telekom AG are among operators pushing agreements in markets hurt by the European debt crisis -- and increasingly in emerging economies -- to cut costs by sharing parts of their networks. The move is also one way to stem falling revenue and meet state-imposed coverage requirements. The unraveling of takeovers and mergers in the past two months, including a sale of T-Mobile USA and a combination of Vodafone’s Greek assets with a rival, highlight the need for European carriers to find ways to boost profitability as regulators from Washington to Brussels balk at consolidation. Spending by the region’s operators will shrink by a percentage point this year and next, falling to 14 percent of average sales in 2013, according to Fitch Ratings estimates.