The European Commission has reportedly approved Hutchison’s acquisition of Orange Austria – on the condition that the new group allows other operators to access the network.

Austrian newspaper Wirtschaftsblatt said the Commission has stipulated that MVNOs are allowed to access the expanded network, which will operate under Hutchison’s 3 brand.

Hutchison’s EUR1.3 billion bid to acquire Orange Austria from France Telecom and Mid Europa Partners was first revealed in February.

The European Commission started to look at the proposal in May and launched an anti-trust probe into the deal at the beginning of July, due to concerns that competition would be reduced as the number of operators in the market falls from four to three. The other operators are Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and Telekom Austria’s A1.

Neither Hutchison 3G Austria or the European Commission would comment on the report, with a final decision on the merger due to be made by 6 November.

The Austrian Federal Competition Authority is also looking at the related plan for Telekom Austria to acquire Orange Austria’s discount Yesss brand. The acquisition of Yesss would give Telekom Austria a market share that is approaching 50 percent.