The nation’s antitrust watchdog said that SK Telecom (South Korea top mobile carrier) must share its highly efficient radio frequency bandwidth with rival companies as part of its obligations entailed in a deal to take over a fixed-line Internet service operator.
Last year, SK Telecom acquire 38.89 percent stake in Hanarotelecom Inc. (nation’s second-largest Internet service provider) raising fears that the takeover could disrupt fair market competition by creating a mega-company that would dominate both in mobile and fixed-line communications.
To prevent the anti competitive market environment , SK Telecom must share its 800 Mhz Frequency bandwidth with the other two smaller carriers as Fair Trade Commission (FTC) gave the approval for the buyout and demands it.
Microsoft’s $6 billion acquisition of online advertising group aQuantive has cleared an antitrust regulatory hurdle, the companies said.
The Federal Trade Commission mandates a waiting period to review anticompetitive fallout from large mergers. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, aQuantive said the waiting period passed without requests for further information from the FTC.
“We’re obviously pleased,” said Tom Phillips, a spokesman for Seattle-based aQuantive. A shareholder meeting to vote on the sale of the company is scheduled for August 9.
Phillips said aQuantive is still working out how the organization, which employs 2,560 people worldwide, with 662 in Seattle, will look after the buyout.
Microsoft’s Live search engine lags far behind sites operated by Google and Yahoo, in the number of searches performed each month. As a result, the company racks up far fewer dollars from the small text ads placed next to search results.
Microsoft’s acquisition of aQuantive, announced in May, followed Google’s announcement that it would pay $3.1 billion for online ad technology company DoubleClick.
Microsoft was interested in DoubleClick as well; aQuantive’s ad-serving technology could help the Redmond-based software maker close the gap with Google.
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The US Federal Trade Commission has warned against implementing any kind of net neutrality regulations as the consequences for the market are too difficult to predict. The FTC’s Internet Access Task Force issued on broadband competition policy, summarizing its findings on the net neutrality debate and offering advise to legislators considering possible regulation of the sector. The recommended “caution” for policymakers given the “evolving, dynamic” nature of the broadband internet industry. The sector is “generally moving toward more – not less – competition”. With no signs of market failure or consumer harm, the case for imposing regulation appears weak. Furthermore it suggested that broadband providers pursuing data prioritization, exclusive deals and vertical integration into online content and applications could benefit consumers, rather than leading to a digital divide as feared by supports of net neutrality regulations. The primary reason for caution on new legislation is “simply that we do not know what the net effects of potential conduct by broadband providers will be on all consumers.
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SK Telecom to share Radio Bandwidth with rivals (South Korea)
