Vodafone and Three outline two more merger concessions to ease fears

The Vodafone and Three logos — Image via Vodafone

Vodafone and Three have suggested some remedies to help get their merger past the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK. It has previously committed to invest £11 billion in the UK's mobile network and sell some of its spectrum to Virgin Media O2, but because the CMA still has concerns, it has expanded its commitments to include the following:

for retail customers: we will maintain tariffs at £10 or below for two years from the completion of the merger for value-focused customers on the SMARTY brand, social tariffs on both the SMARTY and VOXI For Now brands, and continue measures to protect registered vulnerable customers; and

for wholesale customers: we will provide a reference offer that encourages MVNOs - the fastest growing part of the market - to access our additional network capacity to offer great deals to retail customers.

The CMA's fear is that with fewer competitors, prices will be pushed up and this would of course be detrimental to customers, especially vulnerable customers who rely on a phone and are already struggling to pay as it is.

Vodafone and Three are trying to reassure the CMA that their merger is pro-growth, pro-customer, pro-investment, and pro-competitive. The CMA's final decision will be published on December 7, and until then, the two companies plan to "positively engage" with the CMA to try and resolve any outstanding issues.

The UK market has already seen Virgin Media and O2 merge in recent years and now Vodafone and Three want to merge, which leaves EE (which was also a merger between T-Mobile and Orange). Vodafone has been vocal in previous years about the mobile landscape in the UK.

Back in 2022, Vodafone CEO Nick Read said that a reduction in carriers from four to three would create a healthier sector. He argued that it would lead to an increase in investments in the space without harming competition. In the same year, Nick Read called on European legislators to make big tech firms, who benefit massively from the infrastructure, pay some of the cost of the infrastructure.

Source: Vodafone