The European Commission could approve a €21.8bn merger between two Italian mobile operators as early as this week, even though it would reduce the number of MNOs in the country from four to three – recently a fatal sticking point for a similar proposal in the UK, where CK Hutchison failed in its bid to acquire Telefonica O2 and merge O2 with its Three UK operation. CK Hutchison is also one of the players in the proposed Italian merger, with Vimpelcom’s Wind subsidiary. Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is said to be set to announce a green light for the deal ahead of the deadline of September 8. According to regulator Agcom, a merged 3 Italia/Wind would serve 33.7% of the…