EU antitrust regulators are likely to expand their scrutiny of French telecoms provider Orange’s 3.4-billion-euro bid for Jazztel after the companies failed to allay their concerns, two sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Orange, France’s No. 1 mobile firm, is looking to the deal to get ahead of rival Vodafone in the Spanish mobile market.

The companies offered concessions to the European Commission on Nov. 13.

The sources said the EU competition watchdog did not consider these sufficient.

One of the sources said the Commission is likely to announce the opening of an in-depth investigation on Thursday and also reject a request from the Spanish competition authority to examine the case.

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