{Facebook (FB.O), the world’s most popular social network, gained European Union clearance on Friday for its proposed $19 billion takeover of mobile messaging startup WhatsApp in a deal setting it against the telecoms industry.}<\/p>\n
The landmark deal is the largest in Facebook’s 10-year history and will give it a strong foothold in the fast-growing mobile messaging market.<\/p>\n
WhatsApp is poised to become a potentially powerful rival to companies such as Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) with its plan to add free voice-call services for its 450 million customers later this year.<\/p>\n
The European Commission said the Facebook-WhatsApp deal would not hurt competition.<\/p>\n
“We have carefully reviewed this proposed acquisition and come to the conclusion that it would not hamper competition in this dynamic and growing market. Consumers will continue to have a wide choice of consumer communications apps,” European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.<\/p>\n
Reuters was the first to report on Sept. 25 that the deal would be cleared unconditionally. U.S. regulators nodded through the deal in April.<\/p>\n
WhatsApp and its rivals such as KakaoTalk, China’s WeChat and Viber have in recent years won over telecoms operators’ customers with a free text messaging option, posing a serious threat to the sector’s revenues from this business, which totaled about $120 billion last year, according to market researcher Ovum.<\/p>\n
Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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