To the surprise of absolutely no one, the European Commission has officially opened “in-depth” proceedings to investigate the sale of certain Liberty Global cable assets to Vodafone, confirming last week’s rumors sparked by Reuters. As we sign off our final issue of the year, Faultline Online Reporter will pick up the gavel dropped by the EC this week at the start of May 2019, when a conclusive decision is expected. It pains us to say this again, but it should not require a crack team of rocket scientists to establish how waving the deal through would reduce competition and create the continent’s largest cable and high-speed broadband service provider, and therefore should have very little merit for approval. Unfortunately, now…