you'll just see three or O2 sold to an asset stripper who will close down the business and sell off the network components to others.
Well given that Telefonica want to sell O2-UK to gain capital so it can pay off its debts, the question has to be asked what happens if the Three/O2 takeover doesn't happen, particularly given we are lead to believe the only other party that was interested in O2-UK prior to Three's offer, was BT?
So the EU's dilemma will be more of what is more important: retaining strong competition in those markets Telefonica still operates in or possibly protecting the UK mobile market - I think the answer is obvious, given they okay'ed the Three/O2(IRL) merger...
The other related question is just what exactly assets does O2-UK have other than it's customer base? I can see Telefonica giving O2-UK customers inducements to transfer to Three, if it means they get a 'commission' for each transfer, where total commission payments could be as high as £10.2Bn...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
