The European Commission has approved the proposed merger of rival UK mobile phone networks; the France Telecom-owned Orange and the Deutsche Telekom-owned T-Mobile.

Together, the pair will create the UK's largest mobile provider by subscriber numbers, pulling in 30million users into one pool operated by the same outfit, overtaking O2 who is currently in the lead.

The deal did raise concerns for the network "3", as it has one of the smallest footholds of the major players, but the EU has put into place stipulations on the merger that would require the combined company to open up more of their spectrum and share 3000 more mast sites with "3".

Still no word on branding or naming of the combined company yet though, and there's still a ways to go before we see a unified experience online and on the high street, but it's a start.

[Recombu]