Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone’s plans to form an advertising joint venture is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval, Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The joint venture marks the telecoms sector’s first attempt to take on Meta and Alphabet’s Google in the lucrative online advertising sector and diversify their revenue streams.
Google is the world’s leading seller of online advertising, well ahead of Meta, with the business generating about 80% of its revenue.
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The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by Feb. 10 after its preliminary review, and Vodafone declined to comment.
Telefonica referred to the joint filing with the EU antitrust watchdog. Deutsche Telekom and Orange did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
