Statement on EU Commission blocking Three / O2 merger

Dido Harding, CEO of TalkTalk said: “This is the right outcome for UK mobile customers. We were always clear that going from four mobile networks to three would have meant higher prices and less competition, so it’s reassuring to see competition regulators standing firmly on the side of consumers. We have long argued, as the Commission have again this morning, that innovation and improvement in service quality stems from more competition, not less. We hope that the UK regulators will take an equally robust approach to the significant competition issues that have been identified here around the future of Openreach.”