Two of the UK's leading broadband providers have claimed they will not pass on some of their access to the radio spectrum when they merge.

At a global telecoms conference organised by the Financial Times, the parent companies of T-Mobile and Orange – Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom – said no plans are in place to see any of its share passed on.

It is believed the merged company will hold a total of 170MHz of the spectrum, which is significantly higher than rivals in the mobile broadband market.

However, as a report published by the Independent Spectrum Broker recently suggested there should be a cap of 120MHz placed on the new company's holding, it is unlikely this issue will go away quickly.

Orange's mobile broadband services were recently named the best in the UK in a study carried out by YouGov, which rated the company top in terms of quality and value for money.