O2, Three merger blocked by European Commission
The European Commission has stopped the sale of O2 to telecommunications company Three.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager blocked the acquisition because of "strong concerns" that British mobile customers would have less choice and would have to pay higher prices as a result of the takeover.
The deal would have also had a negative impact on quality of service for customers, Vestager added.
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"We had strong concerns that consumers would have had less choice finding a mobile package that suits their needs and paid more than without the deal," she said in a statement.
"It would also have hampered innovation and the development of network infrastructure in the UK, which is a serious concern especially for fast moving markets. The remedies offered by Hutchison were not sufficient to prevent this."
The owner of Three, Hutchison, was ready to pay £10.25 billion ($14.78 billion) for O2.
The deal would have left Britain's mobile market with only three mobile companies: Three-O2, EE and Vodafone.
Earlier this year, the UK watchdog Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) urged European regulators to effectively block the merger.
A study by British telecoms regulator Ofcom found that prices are 10-20% higher in markets with three operators.
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