Mobile operator 3, owned by Hutchison Whampoa, is calling on European and U.K. regulators to block a rivals' planned mobile payments joint venture on competition grounds, the Financial Times reported on its website Thursday, citing the company's regulatory affairs director, Stephen Lerner.

Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN), Telefonica SA (TEF) and Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between France Telecom's (FTE) Orange and Deutsche Telekom AG's (DTE.XE) T-Mobile, announced the plan to create a joint venture to develop mobile payment services in June.

"Instead of competing for the benefit of consumers, the three operators that hold 90% of the U.K. market have engaged in a cosy collaboration and closed ranks against competition," the FT quoted Lerner as saying. "The competition authorities in Brussels should not allow this type of collaboration to go forward under any circumstances."

Full story: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/cd22402e-d963-11e0-b52f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1XFQ6trI3