Statement from Vodafone UK and Three UK on submission to the CMA

Vodafone UK and Three UK have formally submitted their Merger Notice to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), marking the initiation of the merger process.

• The UK is recognised as having the slowest data download speeds in the G7 (Opensignal research, December 2023), and it ranks 39th out of 56 countries in terms of active 5G connections (June 2023). Without a step-change in investment, the UK risks slipping even further behind.​

• The current UK market structure of two scaled mobile network operators – which make a return on invested capital – plus two smaller mobile network operators – which do not make a return on invested capital – is failing to deliver this investment.​

• The merger in the UK of Vodafone and Three is predicated on resolving this network investment challenge. It will create a new, properly funded third infrastructure provider and help level the playing field with the larger players, while offering better network quality to consumers, business customers and MVNOs. As such, it will also increase competitive pressure on BT/EE and VMO2 to invest in their mobile networks, driving significant improvements for customers.​

• From day one, at least 7 million customers will see improved network speeds and benefit from reduced congestion and less buffering. By 2032, more than 86% of the population will benefit from ultrafast average mobile speeds that are around double what either Vodafone or Three could achieve on a standalone basis.​

A paper on the proposed merger by Compass Lexecon, which was published today, can be found here. A summary of the paper can be found here.