Nokia’s bid for Alcatel-Lucent has won unconditional approval from European Union merger watchdogs, who predicted growing rivalry with Samsung Electronics in markets for mobile-phone technology.
The transaction to create the biggest maker of equipment that underpins mobile-phone networks won’t prevent tough competition in Europe from Ericsson and Huawei Technologies across the 28-nation EU, the European Commission said in an emailed statement on Friday. Other global competitors such as Samsung and ZTE are on the rise, the regulator said.
“In particular, Samsung is expected to play a more significant role in the near future in relation to the newest generation mobile telecommunications equipment — so-called 4G, currently being deployed, and 5G,” the commission said.