Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8243226.stm

T-Mobile and Orange in UK merger

T-Mobile and Orange plan to merge their UK businesses, creating a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers.

The deal between Orange-owner France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile UK will see a business with sales of 9.4bn euros (£8.2bn; $13.5bn).

Holding about 37% of the mobile market it will be the UK's largest provider, overtaking Telefonica's O2.

It is the second large corporate deal in two days, after Kraft Food's £10.2bn takeover proposal for Cadbury.

Orange and T-Mobile said their deal - due to be signed by November - would "bring substantial benefits to UK customers", and promised expanded network coverage, better network quality and improved customer services.

However it is likely that competition authorities in the UK and EU will probe the deal.

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