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Are Orange and T-Mobile going to merge?

7 September 2009
By Paul Smith

Bitterwallet - t mobile to merge with Orange?There's something going on in the mobile market that might see the creation of the biggest provider in the UK. Over the past couple of days there have been whispers of O2 operators Telefonica and Vodafone bidding for T-Mobile, and now Reuters reports that T-Mobile are to hold exclusive talks with Orange about a "joint venture".

It doesn't mean a merger will definitely happen and the talks could stall well before a new company is created. If it were to happen though, the Competition Commission would probably get involved as the number of major providers reduces from five to four; O2 currently has a market share of around 27 percent, followed by Vodafone with 25 percent, Orange with 22 percent, T-Mobile with 15 and 3 UK with 8 percent.

[Reuters]

38 comments

  • Maude
    Interesting, because T-Mobile and Orange have been peering between their respective 3G services for months.
    Reply
  • graham
    its funny because wall street journal say its confirmed. You got to love media accuracy.
    Reply
  • Paul S.
    The fact that they're holding exclusive talks is confirmed. There's no deal done yet, according to pretty much every other news source. Perhaps they know something. Clever.
    Reply
  • JB
    What does "peering between their respective 3G services" mean?
    Reply
  • adam
    I don't know what 2 think. I really think this could be a great move for the uk market. This could be the birth of the biggest network in the uk which inturn could mean great deals for customers and great revenue for "Orange T-Mobile" I'm excited cos I actually work for 1 of these companies, however we have been told that it is only rumours. Its reported it could be announced tomorrow so let's wait and see. I'm so excited!
    Reply
  • IfYouCopyMyNameYouAreGay
    I wonder what this would mean for mbnl? http://www.mbnl.co.uk/
    Reply
  • Brian2
    who cares
    Reply
  • adam
    I think mbnl will have to looked at again as this was all setup as though the uk had 5 operators! Does anyone actually know whether the merger is definitely happening?
    Reply
  • Mark (.
    T Mobile is cheap, but completely useless due to its shitty network. Sadly this will fix the shitty network (whoever buys them), but the low prices will be 'fixed' too.
    Reply
  • Dirk W.
    Personally I welcome this bold venture
    Reply
  • Peter B.
    Yeah Man! LEt's get to business!!
    Reply
  • Mark
    "T Mobile is cheap, but completely useless due to its shitty network." Quite. But while I wouldn't sign up with them, they probably are helping to keep competitor's prices low-ish too.
    Reply
  • adam
    I actually believe that t mobile has a decent network. I also agree that t mobile does help keep prices low. They have recentle appointed a new managing director richard moat. His business strategy is to turn t mobile into a "value" network. Its not about being the best network but being the best for value. I actually heard Richard Moat was going to announce copious job losses. I wonder whether this will still happen?
    Reply
  • Stephen H.
    They could take the Mobile from T mobile and the Orange from Orange and call it Orange Mobile :)
    Reply
  • Mark M.
    " I’m excited cos I actually work for 1 of these companies" - You do realize don't you that there is another person who works in the other company who does exactly the same job as you and that a large part of what makes this attractive to both parties is the ability to create synergies (i.e sack people). If you are looking to get voluntary redundancy(at a big fat statutory rate) you and a lot of other people have every right to get excited.
    Reply
  • iBone
    Will they sell iPhones?
    Reply
  • rappy
    ose this mean i can sneek out of my new virgin media contract again?
    Reply
  • Song B.
    # Posted by Stephen Hammond | September 7th, 2009 at 10:23 pm They could take the Mobile from T mobile and the Orange from Orange and call it Orange Mobile :) Opp north it could also be called T' Mobile
    Reply
  • Song B.
    bah that should read T' Orange
    Reply
  • Maude
    @JB http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peering
    Reply
  • graham
    Announcement as soon as today (Tuesday)
    Reply
  • Shadow
    competition watchdog will probably prefer orange to buy them over vodaphone or o2
    Reply
  • -Mike H.
    I see, O2 has the biggest market share, mainly due to all the nob heads wanting iPhones on extortionate profit making tarriffs, thanks for making my tarriffs cheaper, wankers.
    Reply
  • Ronald
    Had to laugh at the person saying this would be great for the UK market and prices. The only reason they are merging is because the market is *too* competetive (for them). No other market in the EU has so many operastors and deals like free txts for £10/month. This is just a way to raise prices and reduce competition which is always bad for consumers. Hopefully good sense will prevail and it will be blocked by the competition commission!.
    Reply
  • Andy
    I Actually have a phone on both networks T-mobile's network have improved greatly since DT bought them they use to have the best deals by far but over the past two years they have lost their way looking at dealing with customers direct rather than through stores beacause the then head of the uk came from dell I moved my business phone to orange and I have to say other than the odd hiccup its great so I look forward to some great deals in time for Xmas
    Reply
  • Paul
    This has now been confirmed (saw it on GMTV this morning). @Mark Martin "If you are looking to get voluntary redundancy(at a big fat statutory rate) you and a lot of other people have every right to get excited." Providing they have been working there for over 2 years, otherwise they don't need to offer you a penny.
    Reply
  • Paul
    Also, isn't it Orange and T-Mobile that are rumored to be offering the iPhone in the near future? Co-incidence....
    Reply
  • Nobby
    When they merge they should be called Ora-bile.
    Reply
  • Simon
    If you look on the orange website, they're saying this is a done deal. (10:10)
    Reply
  • Andy
    I personally think it should be called 'Orange - T'
    Reply
  • Tom P.
    Wonder if it's a good time to take out a contract on a nice shiny new phone, then tell them to get stuffed when they change the T&C's of the merged company.
    Reply
  • Daniel
    I hope this means I can get out of my contract with T-Mobile easily now. Cant' slag off the service, its always worked, but my G-1 got stolen :(
    Reply
  • mrgrewl
    iphone and android phones - after my fiasco with orange and the increases out of bundle call charges im now with 02 on a 12Month simplicity contract (£100 quidco) deal. After my 12 months i think i might be tempted to go back, Iphones, Androids and better deals is what i am predicting from them
    Reply
  • Carl B.
    Will this mean that the special deals (One price for unlimited calls 24/7) offered by T Mobile to other EU countries except the UK will be offered to UK users? I bet it will not, so surprise me T-Mobile. Signed Carl Barron Chairman of agpcuk
    Reply
  • Ian B.
    I think orange is a great colour, I also like magenta - I think they will go well together.
    Reply
  • James F.
    This is a good idea hopefully it will bring cheaper prices to the mobile phone market :)
    Reply
  • Orange B.
    [...] had an easy year and now some paper-pushing killjoys are attempting to ruin it completely. The proposed merger of the two telecom companies is being challenged by Consumer Focus and the Communications Consumer [...]
    Reply
  • Consultoria V.
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    Reply

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