The UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the competition watchdog, has announced the clearance of the proposed acquisition by BSkyB Broadband Services Limited (Sky) of Easynet Group Plc (Easynet) and the merger of NTL Incorporated (ntl) and Telewest Global, Inc (Telewest). The OFT has decided that the test for merger reference to the Competition Commission is not met in either case. Both cases relate to the emergence of Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) as an alternative means to provide ‘triple-play’ (pay-TV, internet and telecommunications) services.
