Orange and T-Mobile announce merger talks

Commenting on the news that T-Mobile has said it wants to merge with Orange, James Parker, mobiles manager at moneysupermarket.com said, "This merger would mean a huge change for the UK mobile industry. Orange and T-Mobile combined will become the largest mobile provider with over 28 million customers and a 37 per cent market share, 10 per cent more than the current leading provider O2.

"If this merger does go ahead then it will ultimately mean one less mobile operator in the UK market and could potentially mean less choice for the consumer. T-Mobile may currently be one of the smaller players but it has been creative with its tariffs and Orange also has unique deals such as Orange Wednesdays.

"Ofcom will have a role to play in this merger and should do all it can to ensure that the best interests of the consumer are taken in to consideration at every stage. There will be many customers of both Orange and T-mobile who have questions on what this will mean for them and whether the talk of better customer service and network coverage will actually be delivered if the merger is given the go ahead."