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.

Billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa Ltd has agreed to buy O2, Telefonica’s wireless carrier in the UK, for £10.25bn (€14bn) as consolidation heats up in Britain’s phone market.