Sky Vodafone merger decision was a fight worth having

February 23, 2017

Consumers come first – Sky Vodafone merger decision was a fight worth having

Today’s decision by the Commerce Commission to decline the proposed merger of Vodafone and Sky highlights the importance of protecting competition – especially a three player mobile market.

2degrees had opposed the merger, providing expert reports and evidence of the harm that would be caused to competition if it had been approved and highlighting the importance of ‘must have’ sports content controlled by Sky.

2degrees Chief Executive Stewart Sherriff says the Commission’s decision showed a comprehensive understanding of the issues that would play out if the merger had been allowed.

“The Commission has recognized that competition is still developing, and that the impact of competition from companies such as 2degrees can be reduced over time if monopolies are created,” says Mr Sherriff.

“2degrees has been fighting for fair for many years – we fought for number portability, regulated mobile termination rates and national roaming so we could enter the market and compete. The results of those battles has seen prices plummet and a range of new services introduced.”

“When we saw the impact a one company stranglehold on ‘must have’ content could have on competition in the mobile and broadband markets, we felt it was another fight worth having.”

Mr Sherriff says 2degrees remains very interested in working with Sky to customise its content and deliver new services via mobile and broadband.

“We’ve always been keen to work with Sky to do more with content. We have a fantastic national mobile network and high speed broadband network and are always looking to offer services that give customers something new.”

ENDS

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