After 18 months of regulatory scrutiny, the £15 billion merger between Vodafone Group and Three UK has officially been approved by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The news marks the creation of a new leader in UK mobile, committed to driving competition, innovation, and investment.
The merged entity, which is likely to operate solely under the Vodafone brand, will surpass current market leader EE in both size and reach. The venture will develop one of the most advanced 5G networks in Europe, bringing vastly superior quality, reliability, and capacity to over 50 million customers.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vodafone will control a 51% stake in the combined company, with Three UK’s parent company, CK Hutchison, holding 49%. The merger is expected to generate significant cost efficiencies through the consolidation of network infrastructure and operations, allowing the new entity to invest heavily in 5G rollout and other future technologies and benefit consumers going forward.
Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone Group, welcomed the approval, calling it a transformative moment for the UK telecoms industry. “Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for mobile connectivity in the UK. With the combined expertise and resources of Vodafone and Three UK, we will be able to offer our customers faster, more reliable services, while leading the charge in next-generation technologies like 5G and beyond.”
The merger will also enable the new company to accelerate the expansion of its 5G network and is expected to cover 90% of the UK population by 2026. The combined infrastructure will also improve coverage in rural areas, addressing longstanding concerns about service gaps in less densely populated regions.
The CMA approval ruled that short-term protections were needed to ensure consumer customers can continue to benefit from great deals that would, logically be more likely with more competition in the market. The protections will require Vodafone and Three to;
- deliver their joint network plan – including network upgrade and improvement made through significant levels of investment over the next 8 years across the UK. This would be a legal obligation overseen by both Ofcom – the telecoms regulator – and the CMA
- commit to retain certain existing mobile tariffs and data plans for at least 3 years, protecting millions of current and future Vodafone / Three customers (including customers on their sub-brands) from short-term price rises in the early years of the network plan
- commit to pre-agreed prices and contract terms to ensure that Mobile Virtual Network Operators can obtain competitive wholesale deals
As Vodafone’s specialist partner of the year, Digital Phone Company is extremely excited to see how we can bring better coverage and price plans to our customers across rural East Anglia through this landmark unity
