T-Mobile and Orange have finally signed the agreement that will turn them into a 50:50 joint company, dominating the UK mobile market with a share of 37 per cent.

Parent companies Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom said today that they will combine their UK operations, after months of wrangling.

"This joint venture is based on the full commitment of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom to a long-term partnership," said Timotheus Hoettges, chief financial officer at Deutsche Telekom.

"The negotiations were conducted in a fair way on both sides, and I am certain that this spirit of professionalism and partnership will shape the future of our joint venture. It will set new standards as the number one in the UK mobile market."

Gervais Pellissier, deputy chief executive at France Telecom in charge of group finance and information systems, added: "This is an important step towards our objective of establishing an excellent platform to deliver operational synergies, and offer innovative and high-quality services to our customers."

Completion of the deal is dependent on regulatory approval, but is expected to happen in the first half of next year.

UK regulators have said that they may stop the deal, after fears that the combined entity will have an unfair advantage in the UK marketplace.