Consolidation can be a two-edged sword for both enterprises and their customers, and that is particularly true in the telco arena. This has come to the fore recently in south east Asia amid a spate of mergers and acquisitions that has brought welcome synergies and efficiency improvements but also raised concern over reduced competitiveness in some markets. For consumers, scale efficiencies can cut prices, while on the other hand reduced competition can raise them, as well as leading to diminished quality of service and support given reduced incentives for differentiation. That can affect the service providers as well, stifling innovation and impairing technological progress. While some telco convergence has been occurring all over the world – multiple deals in Europe,…