Swisscom’s Italian subsidiary Fastweb could be interested in mobile assets freed up by Wind Italy’s proposed merger with 3 Italia, as the companies look to appease regulators in the light of 3 UK’s failed merger with O2 in the UK.

VimpelCom, parent of Wind, and CK Hutchison, owner of 3, announced a proposed tie-up between their respective units last summer.

According to Italian publication Il Sole 24 Ore, cited by Telecompaper, the companies believe the only possible way to achieve EU regulatory approval for the deal will be to enable the entrance of a new competitor in the market, such as Fastweb, which could be interested in mobile towers and frequencies.

Like the failed deal for 3 UK and Telefonica’s O2 UK, the Italian merger would reduce the number of competitors in the country from four to three, and it is currently going through phase two of the European Commission’s rigorous review process.

Hutchison said last week it was confident that the merger in Italy would go through shortly, while VimpelCom also said in its Q1 2016 results that it expects the tie-up to go ahead around the end of this year.

Fastweb has made its ambitions of entering the mobile market well known.

Swisscom CEO Urs Schaeppi said earlier this month the company “is interested in the remedies out of the merged Hutch-Wind, because it is our ambition to strengthen our position in the mobile market”.

The EC is due to give its final decision on the deal on 18 August.