The extension to September 8, 2016 was made by the commission with the agreement of the parties, according to Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso.
An approval of the deal would reduce the Italian market from four to three operators by September 2016.
Swisscom’s Fastweb, Iliad and Digicel Group have submitted preliminary bids to EC commissioner Margrethe Vestager to acquire spectrum and about 5,000 towers that could be divested by VimpelCom and CK Hutchison to ease competition concerns. The latter has also proposed various concessions such as selling equipment and roaming deals to help launch a rival fourth operator in the Italy.
