Deutsche Telekom would protest against a merger between Liberty Global and Vodafone in Germany, arguing that the two rivals would control too much of its domestic TV market.

“We would definitely have some remedies and protests against a merger, but we also expect the authorities to have a view on that,” said Niek Jan van Damme, the head of Deutsche Telekom’s German business.

Liberty Global and Vodafone’s broadband Internet businesses don’t overlap and wouldn’t hurt competition, he said. In June, Vodafone said that it was in talks with Liberty about asset swaps.

That followed comments by Liberty chairman John Malone the previous month that the two companies would be a "great fit" with "substantial synergies."

Carriers in Europe are merging and cooperating to offer a combination of mobile, home phone, TV and Internet access, a business model that retains customers longer.

That’s contributed to a wave of European telecommunications acquisitions in the last two years. Deutsche Telekom is exploring additional deals for infrastructure sharing in Europe.

Countries such as Hungary, where the German company is the dominant phone carrier, could benefit from network sharing for high-speed, fourth-generation wireless networks, Mr van Damme said.

The company will also look to build on its content partnerships, such as the ones it has with Sky and Netflix in Germany. Customers increasingly want to take content from their home TVs and PCs to mobile devices when they leave the house, he said.

Mr Van Damme said he’s more sceptical about cross-boarder deals that would combine carriers in different countries. European governments will be suspicious of deals that would put a major, fixed-line carrier into foreign hands, he said.

A representative for Vodafone declined to comment. A spokesman for Liberty didn’t respond to a call seeking comment.

- Bloomberg