Mobile phone prices for tens of millions of UK customers would be frozen for five years as part of a £5bn investment drive by Li Ka-shing’s CK Hutchison to win over competition watchdogs to its £10.5bn acquisition of O2.
The merger of Hutchison’s Three and O2 would create the country’s largest mobile group, with control over about 40 per cent of the market. That has raised concerns among regulatory authorities in the UK and Brussels, who worry that reducing the number of mobile operators from four to three could lead to skyrocketing prices and falling investment.
In response, the Hong Kong-based group has promised to hold prices for five years for British customers of O2 and Three, while also opening its network to rivals.