South Africa's Vodacom gets nod from antitrust body to buy Neotel

JOHANNESBURG, June 30 (Reuters) - South Africa's Competition Commission has recommended to the Competition Tribunal that a merger worth 7 billion rand ($575.95 million) between mobile operator Vodacom and fixed line operator Neotel be approved.

The antitrust authority also wants Vodacom, who would control Neotel after the merger and use it to roll out high-speed fibre and next-generation mobile services, to commit 10 billion rand in infrastructure spending within the next five years and guarantee a return for Neotel's black empowerment shareholders.

Vodacom would also not be allowed to use Neotel's spectrum to sell mobile services to any of its customers for a period of 2 years, the Commission said.

Vodacom offered India's Tata Communications 7 billion rand in May last year, and despite opposition from mobile rivals MTN Group and the unlisted Cell C in public hearings held by Africa's most advanced economy's communications regulator, got the nod from the regulator earlier this month. ($1 = 12.1539 rand) (Reporting by TJ Strydom, editing by William Hardy)