The wave of mergers and acquisitions that swept over European mobile operators before the pandemic has abated somewhat since, but there are still deals in the offing, notably within the Vodafone Group. There could be a new string of mergers if the European Union softens its stance on consolidation in telecoms, which has long been at odds with large operators’ strategies. There are signs that the EU will be encouraging consolidation, in a bid to accelerate investment and deployment of infrastructure in fiber and 5G. That could lead to a significant restructuring of the European market, if there are fewer restrictions on mergers between operators, particularly those that reduce mobile operators from four to three in a particular country. In…