STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- E.U. competition authorities will approach the sharing of third-generation mobile telephone networks on a case-by-case basis, Commissioner Mario Monti said Monday.

Speaking at a press conference during the course of a competition conference in the city, Monti said, "This is an important problem on which it is difficult to give a general answer."

He pointed out that the application of competition rules to the issue of network-sharing will depend on a number of factors, the most important of which are the number of operators in a specific market and the depth of cooperation between such groups.

"Clearly in a market with fewer operators there a more concerns than where there are more operators and the market shares of the operators concerned will also be important," he said. "Then there is the depth of cooperation. Network sharing is possible at a number of different depths and there are ways of sharing networks that will involve, in terms of article 81 of the treaty, a greater restriction to continuing with others."

In Sweden, licenseholders Hi3G Access AB and Europolitan Holding AB (S.EHD) have agreed to share a single network outside Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmoe, the three largest cities. A third licenseholder, Orange Sveriges AB, is negotiating to join the pair.

Meanwhile, the fourth licenseholder Tele2 AB (TLTOB) has agreed to cooperate with Telia AB (S.TLA) on a network buildout. Telia, Sweden's largest operator, did not receive a UMTS license. Monti pointed out that various types of network sharing envisaged - among these the joint ownership of networks, mast sharing, site sharing and third- party mast infrastructure providers - make it difficult to have a general opinion the issue.

"This is a complex subject. It has to be seen case by case with the general underlying principle to keep a close eye on consumer interest," he said.

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