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A logo of the Orange mobile phone network provider is seen on a retail store in central London September 8, 2009 file photo.
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LONDON - The consumer watchdog has asked for a say in the planned merger of the UK arms of France Telecom's Orange and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile, saying it fears the deal could hurt competition.
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said Wednesday it had asked the European Commission to refer the UK aspects of the proposed deal to it for further scrutiny.
If the request is granted the OFT said it would examine the planned joint venture and decide whether it needs referring to Britain's competition regulator, the Competition Commission, for an in-depth investigation.
"The OFT's initial view, following consultation, is that the joint venture threatens significantly to affect competition in mobile telecommunications in the UK," the OFT said.
In November T-Mobile and Orange agreed to form a 50-50 joint venture that would grab the top spot in Britain with a market share of about 37 percent and reduce the number of mobile phone operators in the country to four from five.
(Reporting by Mark Potter; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
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