GENEVA (AP) — France Telecom's mobile phone operator Orange said Thursday it has appealed a decision by Swiss regulators to block a merger with Denmark's TDC activities in Switzerland.
Orange spokeswoman Therese Wenger said the company filed an appeal with Switzerland's administrative court.
The Swiss Competition Commission in April rejected a merger of France Telecom's Orange and TDC's Sunrise, saying it would have given the companies a "dominant collective position" on the mobile telephone market together with Swisscom.
The French company would have paid €1.5 billion ($2.25 billion) to TDC for 75 percent of the combined company.
Swisscom is the market leader in the Swiss market. Regulators said it was better to maintain three players than reduce it to two.