Australian regulator clears mobile phone merger

The Australian mobile phone businesses of Vodafone Group and Hutchison Whampoa received regulatory clearance Friday for a merger that will create a stronger challenger to the country's dominant telecommunications companies.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said a three-month investigation found the merger was unlikely to substantially reduce competition in the mobile market.

The new company, with annual revenue of about 4 billion Australian dollars ($3.2 billion) and 6 million customers, will be facing off against the market's two biggest players _ former state-owned monopoly Telstra Corp. and Optus, a unit of Singapore Telecommunications.

Vodafone's Asia-Pacific chief Nick Read said the combined company would be more competitive and "capable of providing an even better deal for customers."

Hutchison Telecommunications Australia, which is controlled by the Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, said it expects the merger to be finalized within two weeks.