- The merger of Vodafone-Three is officially completed
- The new Vodafonethree network is one of the largest in the United Kingdom
- The company promises significant investments in the 5G networks of the United Kingdom
British telephone networks Vodafone and three announced the success of their mega merger.
This decision, which sees the number of British mobile networks go from four to three, combines two of the country’s largest suppliers, with the new Vodafonethree company covering around 29 million British consumer and business customers.
“The merger will create a new force in the United Kingdom, will transform the country’s digital infrastructure and propel the United Kingdom to the foreground of European connectivity,” said Margherita della Valle, general manager of the Vodafone group. “We are now impatient to launch our construction of networks and quickly bring customers to greater coverage and higher network quality. The transaction ends the remodeling of Vodafone in Europe, and after this transition period, we are now positioned for future growth.”
Vodafonethre is there
Almost 1000 days after the announcement of the agreement for the first time, the new combined entity says that it will now seek to invest massively in the stimulation of the mobile coverage and infrastructure of the United Kingdom.
This includes 11 billion pounds sterling spending over the next 10 years (including 1.3 billion sterling pounds during this first year) to create what the company claims to be, “one of the most advanced 5G networks in Europe”, with the investment of 5G autonomous networks which considers “propeling the mobile infrastructure of the United Kingdom to the avant-garde of European connectivity”.
Vodafonethre will be led by Max Taylor, who was CEO of Vodafone UK, with three Darren Purkis from the United Kingdom is appointed financial director. We do not think that a job will be lost in the merger.
The new company will be 51% owned by Vodafone and 49% by CKHGT, a parent company of Three UK via its CK Hutchison arm.
“As we have demonstrated in other European markets, the scale allows the significant investment necessary to deliver the mobile networks that beat the world that our customers are waiting for, and Vodafone and Three Muger provide this scale,” noted the Fok Canning, vice-president of CK Hutchison and executive president of CKHGT.
There was no mention of pricing changes or other changes in pricing strategies at the moment, but from cosmetic changes, it seems that customers do not care.
This despite the initial warnings of the British Competition and Markets Authority, which had previously warned that the merger could, “cause price increases for tens of millions of mobile customers, or see customers obtain a reduced service such as small data packages in their contracts.”
The CMA had also highlighted the potential effects on MVNOs such as Lyca Mobile, Sky Mobile and Lebara who use existing network operators, which makes MVNO more difficult to “secure competitive terms”.
However, in December 2024, the CMA gave its approval to the agreement, claiming that it was convinced of a commitment to the investment and expenses of Vodafonethree would avoid one of these potential concerns.
