BT, EE chiefs accuse rivals of attempts to thwart £12.5-bn takeover

The chiefs of UK telecom majors BT and EE have accused their rivals of working to derail their agreed £12.5 billion takeover deal for their own ends.

Gavin Patterson, the chief executive of BT, which made its bid for mobile giant EE in February, said, "The likes of Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone are obviously doing things to push their own causes but they are doing it through innuendo and suggestion, The Independent reported. There is no evidence that a combined BT and EE will lessen competition."

According EE chief Olaf Swantee these competitors only wanted to put up roadblocks, while the two companies went about building motorways for the UK.

The Competition and Markets Authority last week fast-tracked the £12.5-billion takeover to a full merger investigation and was now taking submissions from BT, EE and their rivals. A final decision might not come until early next year.

In the meantime rivals had been calling for breaking up BT and a spin off of Openreach, the wholesale business, which almost all of them were compelled to use to supply broadband to their customers.

Patterson said, ''If the CMA sticks to the facts and examines what this really does in terms of competition and choice, it will come to the obvious conclusion that the deal makes sense. Our rivals are making self-serving submissions, but the fact is that there will still be four mobile operators in the UK as now and no one will have concentration with more than 40 per cent of any part of the telecoms market,'' The Independent reported.

Meanwhile, BT yesterday took up its case for the merger with mobile operator EE yesterday, claiming the deal would see a digital champion emerge for the UK.

The UK's biggest telecoms company said that its acquisition of the UK's largest mobile network would not be a bad thing for consumers, even as rivals warned a reduction in competition could lead to price increases.

According to Patterson, rivals could use the combined group's broadband and mobile phone networks to launch their own services. He said, ''The deal will create a UK digital champion, one that can help the country stay ahead of its peers … to deliver the UK's connected future but also one that others can piggyback on if they don't have the appetite to make the investments themselves.

''Hundreds of companies use our network on equal terms and they will continue to do so in the future. We are happy for them to stand on our shoulders.''