We reported about the T-Mobile UK and Orange UK Merger yesterday when word got out. Today Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom officially announced their plan to combine T-Mobile UK and Orange UK in a new 50:50 joint venture company.

The new joint venture will create the UK’s leading mobile operator and push O2 from the #1 spot. It will have a combined mobile customer base of around 28.4 million, representing approximately 37 percent of UK mobile subscribers, based on figures at the end December 2008. The merger and integration of T-Mobile UK with Orange UK should generate estimated synergies with a net present value in excess £3.5 billion.

The T-Mobile UK and Orange UK brands will be maintained separately for 18 months after completion of the transaction. During that period management will review branding alternatives for the joint venture and will develop a new branding strategy recommendation for shareholder approval.
This means there is no new name for the biggest mobile phone carrier in the UK yet.
O2 needs to be very nice to Apple to keep the iPhone exclusivity as long as possible to have something against this new big competitor.