EU lets Carphone Warehouse take over AOL UK

THE EU HAS given the thumbs up for the Carphone Warehouse to buy AOL's British Internet arm.

According to AFP, Brussels does not think that the deal will significantly impede effective competition in Europe.

So Carphone Warehouse will buy Time Warner's troubled AOL internet business for £370 million on December 31. The deal means that AOL Europe can be totally restructured.

There was some concern from Brussels that there might be an overlap between internet access services and fixed-line telephony services.

However the EU said there was enough competition in both markets to prevent Carphone Warehouse getting too uppity. µ