The acquisition of Yesss! by Telekom Austria came about as a result of Three’s intention to buy Orange. Austrian regulators said that Three would have too much market power in the youth sector if the acquisition went through unaltered, and effectively said that the deal could only go ahead if someone else took control of the Yesss! assets.
In June 2012, the competition authority asked the Cartel Court to conduct an in depth assessment of the deal, something that disappointed Telekom Austria at the time.
Telekom Austria stepped in and is spending €390 million on the assets which it says includes frequencies and base station sites. Approval by the Austrian regulator, the Telekom-Control-Commission (TKK, for the acquisition of the frequencies to be acquired by Telekom Austria Group is still pending.
A report from Reuters quoted a statement from Hutchison saying it now expected EU approval for its acquisition of Orange.
Austria’s Federal Competition Authority said that Telekom Austria and YESSS! together would have more than 39% of the mobile voice market and more than 53% of the market for combined broadband plus mobile deals.
Some market watchers have speculated that the deal may trigger a round of consolidation in European markets with four national wholesale operators.