EU clears Deutsche Telekom control of OTE

BRUSSELS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Germany's Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) won permission from EU competition regulators on Thursday to buy control of Greek telecoms group OTE (OTEr.AT).

"The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition," the EU executive said in a statement.

Europe's telecommunications industry is consolidating as companies seek new growth areas to counter increased competition. Deutsche Telekom's strategic deal with OTE will cover southeast Europe with fixed and mobile operations.

Deutsche Telekom hopes to boost growth with OTE's mobile phone units in Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia, which will help offset falling fixed-line revenues and increased mobile competition in developed markets.

"Given the largely complementary scope of the networks (of (Deutsche Telekom and OTE), the limited horizontal overlaps in the markets for retail fixed telephony and wholesale leased lines in Romania would not raise any competition concerns," the statement said.

"On the markets for international roaming, the Commission found that foreign mobile operators would continue to be able to get access to roaming services from alternative independent providers in each of the countries where OTE is currently offering wholesale international roaming," it added. (Writing by Darren Ennis, editing by Dale Hudson)