Tell us, do you enjoy the thought of BT-EE's sweaty fourplay?

The Competition and Markets Authority has written to telcos and media groups asking for their thoughts as it weighs up the implications of BT swallowing EE.

Rivals, notably Vodafone, have already highlighted how much more radio spectrum the combined organisation will have than any of the other mobile phone networks.

The telcos have been quite public in their view that the relationship between BT and Openreach is too cosy.

EE, formed from a merger of T-Mobile and Orange, is the largest mobile network in the UK both in terms of subscribers and spectrum. Adding BT’s mobile offerings such as OnePhone – which use EE as an MVNO, its DECT guard band licences and the 4G spectrum bought at auction might all add up to too much control.

Openreach controls the lion’s share of fibre in the UK and access to it is vital for mobile phone network backhaul. The telcos are likely to use the Competition and Markets Authority investigation to campaign for regulated access and prices to Openreach fibre.

The Financial Times (paywall) reports that the request for input is a preliminary step ahead of a full merger inquiry and is looking for responses this week.

The £12.5bn sale of EE to BT is the largest deal the Competition and Markets Authority will have investigated and will look at the implications of triple-play and four-play from the former state-owned behemoth. ®