Essay About Merged Entity And Mobile Networks

Merger Case
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Following the merger the pre-merger market position of the parties will be
significantly strengthened as a result of the increased ability and incentive of the new
entity to eliminate actual and/or potential competition. Through its structural
integration of mobile networks across Europe into an integrated network the merged
entity will be the only mobile operator able to meet in the short to medium term (three
to five years according to third parties) the demand for advanced pan-European
services given its ability to overcome the technical and commercial barriers to create
a truly pan-European integrated network.
45. The merged entity would be the only mobile operator able to capture future growth
through new customers, because new customers would be attracted by the services
offered by Vodafone Airtouch/Mannesmann on its own network. Given their inability
to replicate the new entitys network, competitors will have, at best, i.e. if they are
allowed access to Vodafones network at all, significant costs and
performance/quality disadvantages given its dependency on Vodafone
Airtouch/Mannesmann for instance on roaming agreements in order to offer
“equivalent” pan-European mobile services. This situation is likely to entrench the
merged entity into a dominant position on the emerging pan-European market for
internationally mobile customers for the foreseeable future because customers of
other operators would generally prefer the merged entity to other mobile operators
given its unrivalled possibility to provide advanced seamless services across Europe.
46. Third parties would thus need to have access to the merged entitys network to be
able to locate its own customers to provide its advanced services to its subscribers
also when they are in Vodafone/Mannesmanns home network. The merged entity
will therefore have the possibility either to refuse access to the its network or to allow
access on terms and conditions which will make third party offerings unattractive or
simply not competitive.