BT’s takeover of EE – which is expected to cost the telecoms services company £12.5bn – has been given the go-ahead by the Competition and Markets Authority, following a six-month inquiry into whether consumers will face escalating bills as a result of the merger.

John Wotton, chairman of the inquiry, concluded that the takeover is unlikely to cause “significant harm to competition or the interests of consumers”, a claim that had previously been made by Vodafone and TalkTalk, as well as other rivals. Direct competitors O2 and Three are also planning to unite forces, pending the result of the European Commission’s own inquiry, the verdict of which will be revealed in the spring.

It is possible that the BT-EE merger could result in an outsourcing strategy shake-up. BT Group is already an experienced buyer of outsourcing, with subsidiary company Openreach making the shortlist for two outsourcing awards in 2015: the “Outsourcing Works – Award for Delivering Business Value” at the NOA Awards and “Pan-European Buyer of Outsourcing Services of the Year” at the EOA Awards.

It was recently reported that BT is striving to create more sustainable supply chains, raising the company’s environment credibility through the introduction of a sustainability assessment tool that allows for supplier feedback.

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