In January 2010, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom lodged an application for approval of the merger of their UK operations with the EU regulatory authorities. The European Commission (EC) has said that it will decide on the matter by 15 February.

This week, the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has asked the EC to allow it to review the proposal due to the potential impact on competition in the UK telecom market.

This announcement may delay the merger by many months or even prevent the deal from being completed.

If the OFT decides that there is a threat to competition, further investigations will be made by the UK Competition Commission, which may recommend either that the deal be blocked or pass the deal, or requiring remedies that must be undertaken before a deal can be completed.

The EC has not confirmed whether it will allow review in the UK.

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom proposed merging their UK operations in September 2009, to create the UK's largest mobile operator with 37% of the total market.