MSN Money reports on the announcement that Deutsche Telekom, the fourth largest operator, has decided to merge its T-Mobile operations with third placed competitor Orange, part of France Telecom.
The move comes after the German firm failed to sell T-Mobile UK outright earlier this year.
The combined operation will have 28.5 million customers, 37% of the market, and will overtake the current market leader O2 with 27%, which is part of Spain's Telefónica.
The deal would push Vodafone, with 25% market share, into third position, though the British firm would remain easily the largest operator worldwide.
The fifth operator, Hutchison Whampoa's 3, has a comparatively small market share of less than 10%.
Low call charges and hefty handset subsidies are making it tougher for providers. With 76 million handsets, more than one per person in the UK population, there isn't much growth to aim for.
Matt Hatton, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason, told MSN Money, "It is a pretty cut-throat industry [in the UK], with competitors fighting for the same customers."
Read the complete article online at MSN Money.
