Merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK making Europe’s leading 5G networks

Vodafone Group and CH Hutchinson Group Telecom Holdings Ltd, owner of Three Uk have agreed to merge their UK business, Vodafone owning  51 % of the combined business subject to regulator approval. The merger will be completed before the end of 2024. The £15bn investment, the new company has promised for the UK to help to create one of Europe’s most advanced standalone 5G networks with about 27 million customers more than 11, 500 staff.

 The bigger companies have more power can drive prices higher as the regulators must decide whether the deal should go ahead, if the deal is not better conditions for customers, they will look to stop it.

In 2016, O2 attempted to take over, with regulators stepped in to stop the deal citing the risk that the deal would prompt higher prices for customers.

Magherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group CEO described the merger as being “great for customers, great for the country and great for competition.

In 2020, Inflation was close to zero and in a market where customers were using more data, BT decided to add a supplement of 3.9 per cent to the inflation rate which others followed the suit.

The big four mobile operators (BT via EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three) all use inflation plus 3.9 per cent as do some virtual operators such as Tesco. Virgin Media and O2 which use the higher RPI inflation measure for their price rises and Sky, another virtual operator which stands out as a big player who does not add 3.9 per cent.

Vodafone had its own problems as its shares have under-performed the telcoms secetor by 50 per cent over the past decade, according to critics it is too centralised and lacks agility.