Any attempt to block Cellnex's takeover of Hutchison UK's tower network could see consumers "significantly worse off" and hamper the progress of Three UK's planned £3bn investment in 5G.

What's more, the UK competition watchdog's decision to probe the deal was flawed and based on a "simplistic and misleading" assessment rather than a proper understanding of how real-world markets operate.

The claims were made in legal documents from both companies published on Friday as part of the Competition and Market Authority's (CMA) ongoing investigation into Cellnex's proposed buy of Three UK parent Hutchison's towers and other mobile infrastructure [PDF] .

HTTP/2 200 date: Sun, 19 Sep 2021 02:00:05 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 link: ; rel=preload; as=script;,/a7a26af3f5292bd244f1b5a0a2bd2c2009b2a472/javascript/_.js>; rel=preload; as=script;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/scaffolding.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/design.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-700.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-400.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin; cache-control: max-age=0 expires: Sun, 19 Sep 2021 02:00:05 GMT vary: Accept-Encoding x-reg-bofh: pfy03us x-clacks-overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett, Lester Haines cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC expect-ct: max-age=604800, report-uri="https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct" server: cloudflare cf-ray: 690f37e83fd36a21-SYD How long till some drunkard puts a foot through one of BT's 'iconic, digital smart city communication hubs'? • The Register

HTTP/2 200 date: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:00:04 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 link: ; rel=preload; as=script;,/a7a26af3f5292bd244f1b5a0a2bd2c2009b2a472/javascript/_.js>; rel=preload; as=script;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/scaffolding.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/design.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-700.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-400.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin; cache-control: max-age=0 expires: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:00:04 GMT vary: Accept-Encoding x-reg-bofh: pfy03us x-clacks-overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett, Lester Haines cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC expect-ct: max-age=604800, report-uri="https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct" server: cloudflare cf-ray: 6902dbd34aae6a75-SYD Forget that Loon's balloon burst, we just fired 700TB of laser broadband between two cities, says Google • The Register

HTTP/2 200 date: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:00:16 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 link: ; rel=preload; as=script;,/a7a26af3f5292bd244f1b5a0a2bd2c2009b2a472/javascript/_.js>; rel=preload; as=script;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/scaffolding.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/design.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-700.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-400.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin; cache-control: max-age=0 expires: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:00:16 GMT vary: Accept-Encoding x-reg-bofh: pfy01us x-clacks-overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett, Lester Haines cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC expect-ct: max-age=604800, report-uri="https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct" server: cloudflare cf-ray: 6902dc1eef365527-SYD CityFibre scores extra £1bn+ of funding to plumb in up to eight million British homes by 2025 • The Register

HTTP/2 200 date: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:00:27 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 link: ; rel=preload; as=script;,/a7a26af3f5292bd244f1b5a0a2bd2c2009b2a472/javascript/_.js>; rel=preload; as=script;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/scaffolding.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/default/ba4a58189918078cc9718a957c2d2e04c16ceeb1/design.css>; rel=preload; as=style;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-700.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin;,/5e49edbd1875f214e0decae1e24b200066780fa8/style/fonts/arimo/arimo-400.latin.woff2>; rel=preload; as=font; crossorigin; cache-control: max-age=0 expires: Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:00:27 GMT vary: Accept-Encoding x-reg-bofh: pfy03us x-clacks-overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett, Lester Haines cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC expect-ct: max-age=604800, report-uri="https://report-uri.cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/beacon/expect-ct" server: cloudflare cf-ray: 6902dc61efb455bd-SYD Myanmar junta demanded telcos activate phone interception tools – and we refused, says Telenor • The Register