BT Group said today it has completed the acquisition of the UK's biggest mobile network operator EE.
This opens the way to creating a single integrated network offering a combination of telecoms and TV services that competitors are scrabbling to match.
UK regulators waved through the deal, reasoning the little overlap between BT's fixed lines and EE's mobile network meant low risk to competition.
But the former national network monopoly still faces one more hurdle to clear before it can realise its stated plan to operate a single network, "that is able to service customers with no distinction between fixed and mobile".
UK industry regulator Ofcom is currently looking at whether to force BT to spin-off its fixed line network arm Openreach.
This comes after rivals who rely on the network as wholesale customers said BT's ownership was hampering competition and investment in connecting the whole country up to high speed broadband.
BT, which says it would achieve the opposite, is expected to comment on its plans for EE when it reports results on Monday.
But analysts are not expecting fireworks, at least not until the fate of Openreach becomes clearer when Ofcom reports back on the findings of its review next month.
Analysts predict the regulator will not force BT to hive off Openreach, and Ed Vaizey, the minister responsible for the digital economy in the UK, is a sceptical about the merits of a split.
But rivals TalkTalk, Sky and Vodafone are keeping up the pressure, while a recent report from lawmakers kept the option alive politically.
BT bought EE, a joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France's Orange, to serve customers increasingly taking fixed and mobile services from one provider.
BT had started its own mobile service, using EE's network, but it will now have access to one in three mobile customers in the UK.
Analysts said BT could use content from BT Sports, which has live TV rights to Champions League and some Premier League soccer games, to boost average mobile revenue.
BT will also be able to use EE's more than 500 stores to sell its products, although that is not expected to happen until it is sure the customer proposition is right.
Because the deal would reduce the number of UK mobile network operators from four to three analysts expect the regulators will want concessions in return for approval to protect competition, such as selling airwaves or offering wholesale access on better terms.
That would be good news for Sky, which is launching its mobile services on O2's network in the summer, and TalkTalk, which already uses the network for its mobile offer.
