The EU Commission gives the go ahead to the proposed acquisition of a Finnish-based telecommunications group by a Swedish telecoms firm (Telia / Sonera)

"Merger Control: Main developments between 1st May 2002 and 31th August 2002"* The European Commission gave the go ahead to the proposed acquisition of Finnish-based telecommunications group Sonera Corp. by Sweden’s Telia AB, another telecoms firm. The Commission feared that the deal—the first between two incumbent telecoms companies in Europe which moreover are neighbours — could act against consumers’ interests by reducing competition in Finland and in Sweden. But the companies addressed these concerns by offering to sell Telia‘s mobile operations in Finland, Telia‘s cable TV network in Sweden and by creating a legal separation between their fixed and mobile networks and services businesses in Finland and Sweden. ‘The regulatory clearance of the