In the last decade, Competition Authorities have become sceptical about four-to-three mergers between mobile network operators. In this article, Jorge Padilla, Thilo Klein, Paul Reynolds and Martin Wickens evaluate studies on the effects of such mergers, which show they have led to a higher service quality without increasing prices. Therefore, there is no sound basis to presume such a merger will likely harm consumers. Instead, careful assessment of the likely effects on prices and service quality is needed to determine whether a particular merger will make the consumers worse or better off.

In this article, Lau Nilausen reviews the European Commission’s (”EC”) assessment of all benefits presented by merging parties in the past decade. While his review demonstrates EC’s scepticism, it also shows the sources of efficiency that the EC has accepted in principle and highlights the obstacles that merging parties will need to consider if they wish to demonstrate them successfully.

When analysing potentially anti-competitive conducts, it is important to consider whether pro-competitive motivations could also explain that conduct. In this article, Guillaume Duquesne and Hippolyte Brosse demonstrate this using the example of price announcements. While such announcements can facilitate collusion, they can alternatively operate as a barometer, promoting efficiency by informing other suppliers and customers about changing market conditions. It is important to establish which of those rival explanations is consistent with the facts of a particular case.