Asia Tech Wire (Sep 13) -- The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK's antitrust authority, announced Friday that an in-depth investigation by the agency has provisionally identified competition concerns with the planned merger of Vodafone and Three.

This investigation has reached the preliminary conclusion that the merger will lead to price increases for tens of millions of mobile subscribers or a reduction in the services available to subscribers.

The CMA also preliminarily concluded that the merger would have a negative impact on mobile virtual network operators, who would find it more difficult to obtain competitive terms, thereby limiting their ability to offer the best deals to retail customers.

As a result, the CMA has provisionally determined that the merger will result in a substantial lessening of competition in the UK retail and wholesale mobile markets.

In June last year, Vodafone and Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, owner of Three, reached an agreement to merge their telecoms networks in the UK, creating the UK's largest mobile operator.