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BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Europe's biggest telecommunications companies urged the head of the European Commission on Tuesday to loosen EU merger rules, a move they said would boost much-needed investments in digital infrastructure and help them compete with U.S. and Asian peers. Sign up here. The Digital Networks Act, currently scheduled to be unveiled in November, aims to take a more comprehensive approach to help ramp up digital infrastructure across Europe. It hit a stumbling block last week, however, when an internal Commission body issued a negative opinion on the legislation, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. "The Digital Networks Act is a crucial opportunity," the CEOs wrote in a joint letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "Unless the Commission takes bold action with a clearly stated intent to address the need for scale, European industries will continue to lack the strength to invest at the same pace as their competitors in the United States, Asia and other markets," they wrote. The telecoms industry has voiced concern the DNA will ignore their calls to ease the path for large mergers, particularly those which reduce the number of players in a market from four to three. Antitrust regulators have long viewed that level of consolidation as a precursor to price hikes considered harmful to consumers. "The Commission must act boldly to recognise the link between scale and investment, and a much simplified regulatory framework that increases investment capacities," the executives said. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Joe Bavier Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Foo Yun Chee is a 21-year veteran at Reuters. Her stories on high profile mergers have pushed up the European telecoms index, lifted companies' shares and helped investors decide on their next move. Her knowledge and experience of European antitrust laws and developments helped her break stories on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. She has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece's entry into the eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as on Dutch corporate giants and the quirks of Dutch society and culture that never fail to charm readers.
