London, Oct 11 (IANS): The UK’s anti-trust regulator on Wednesday announced it will investigate the $19 billion merger deal between Vodafone UK and CK Hutchison-owned Three UK.

Vodafone UK (which is owned by Vodafone Group) and Three UK (which is owned by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd) are major providers of mobile telecommunication services in the UK.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said, in a statement, that it is providing an early opportunity for interested third parties to comment on the impact that the merger could have on competition in the UK, "in advance of launching a formal investigation once it has received the information it needs from the merging companies".

The CMA is considering "whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services".

"We will be carefully considering how this deal may affect competition in the UK, which could affect the options and prices available to customers. We will also assess how it may affect incentives to invest in the quality of UK mobile networks," CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said.

"This is an opportunity for those with an interest in this merger to let us know their views before we launch a full investigation,” Cardell added.

The combined business will have nearly 28 million subscribers and would be worth 15 billion pounds (nearly $19 billion).

In June, Vodafone and CK Hutchison entered into binding agreements to merge Vodafone UK and Three UK, with the former holding a 51 per cent stake and CK Hutchison 49 per cent. The combined business is likely to invest 11 billion pounds in the UK over 10 years to create one of Europe's most advanced standalone 5G networks, in full support of UK government targets.

The CMA is now inviting views on the impact of the deal on competition to assist with its evidence gathering ahead of launching a formal investigation.