It has been announced that BT and EE are to finally merge after being given the go-ahead from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The acquisition, which has been in the planning since March 2015 and been beset by doubts that it could lead to substantial lessening of competition (SLC) in the marketplace, however the merger will not obstruct the market in this way, keeping broadband, mobile phone retail and other sectors healthy.

Commenting, inquiry chair John Wotton, said: “Since our provisional findings, we have taken extra time to consider responses in detail but the evidence does not show that this merger is likely to cause significant harm to competition or the interests of consumers.”

Mr Wotton added: “The retail mobile services market in the UK is competitive, with four main mobile providers and a substantial number of smaller operators. “As BT is a smaller operator in mobile, it is unlikely that the merger will have significant effect.

"Similarly, EE is only a minor player in retail broadband, so again it is unlikely that the merger will have significant effect in this market…Our job has been to examine the specific impact of this merger on competition and consumers and, where relevant, we’ve looked at how these issues might be affected by the merger.”