Yesterday Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom signed the final agreement to combine their UK operations - T-Mobile and Orange - into the 50:50 joint venture that was first announced on 8th September. The next step is for the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom and the Board of Directors of France Telecom to grant their approval, followed by approval by the UK’s regulatory and competition authorities. Completion of the deal is expected by mid 2010. [Press release (pdf)]