A PYMNTS Company

EU Commission OKs Telecoms’ Advertising Venture To Compete Against Big Tech

By  |  February 12, 2023

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone on Friday secured unconditional EU antitrust approval for their advertising joint venture to take on Big Tech.

“The transaction, as notified, would not significantly reduce competition in French, German, Italian and Spanish markets,” the European Commission said in a statement.

Read more: Internet Providers Rail Against EU Plans To Make Big Tech Pay For Telco Costs

Reuters exclusively reported on the imminent EU green nod last week. This is the telecoms sector’s first attempt to take on Meta and Google in the lucrative online advertising sector and diversify their revenue streams.

Google is the world’s leading seller of online advertising, well ahead of Meta, with the business generating about 80% of its revenue.