EU mobile operators urged to consolidate

If Europe wants its mobile networks to be as advanced as those in the US, further mergers are necessary among wireless operators, said Ronan Dunne, the chief executive of Telefonica SA’s O2 unit.

EU mobile operators urged to consolidate

European regulations need reforms to allow cross-border mergers, which will support investment in new networks and increasing wireless data use, he said. Bigger companies, like Telefonica and its peers with operations in several countries, will then be in a position to ā€œroll upā€ some of the smaller operators.

ā€œThis place is just so fragmentedā€ and that’s discouraging acquirers, Dunne said. In Europe ā€œthere’s a realisation that you need in-country scale, but you also need some European championsā€.

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