T-Mobile and Orange to officially wed

orange_t-mobile_logo T-Mobile and Orange have been making puppy dog eyes at each other for ages now so it should come as no surprise to anyone that it was announced today that the two mobile networks are to officially merge. A big engagement party with streamers and delicious cake and everything was thrown in honour of the union (note: we made this bit up).

According to the Times Online, the merger has now been approved by the European Commission and will see rival mobile network 3 doing rather well out of the bargain as well.

The union of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK would have seen the super-networks’ customer base swell to some 30 million customers, which would leapfrog current market leader O2 and potentially stifle competition in the market. In order to allay regulatory fears, the UK’s smallest network 3 will be able to access 3,000 more T-Mobile masts, giving it greater 3G coverage.

What this means for the respective mobile broadband products of either provider remains to be seen. We imagine that existing contracts would be honoured until the end of their lifetime. Given that the date for the official merger/wedding has not yet been announced, it’s impossible to say at this point.

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