Industry expert Kester Mann, analyst at CCS Insight, described the move as “one of the most important structural changes in the history of UK mobile,” marking the end of a complex journey to bring the two operators together.
“Legal completion is the final hurdle of a long and challenging journey to officially join forces,” said Mann.
“It cements one of the most important structural changes in the history of UK mobile and creates a new market leader with a combined 29 million customers.”
With regulatory hurdles now cleared, VodafoneThree is pressing ahead with a £11 billion investment over the next decade to deliver one of Europe’s most advanced 5G networks. £1.3 billion will be spent in the first year alone, aimed at expanding coverage and accelerating the deployment of 5G Standalone infrastructure.
For Mann, this rollout is urgent: “The merging parties have little time to celebrate. Now, the hard work really begins… For many UK mobile users that have struggled for too long with poor signal, the upgrades can’t come soon enough.”
The merger is expected to generate cost and capital expenditure synergies of £700 million per annum within five years and become accretive to Vodafone’s adjusted free cash flow from FY29.
Vodafone Group chief executive Margherita Della Valle hailed the move as transformational: “The merger will create a new force in UK mobile, transform the country’s digital infrastructure and propel the UK to the forefront of European connectivity.”
“We are now eager to kick off our network build and rapidly bring customers greater coverage and superior network quality,” she added.
Canning Fok, deputy chairman of CK Hutchison added: “As we have demonstrated in other European markets, scale enables the significant investment needed to deliver the world-beating mobile networks our customers expect… This transaction unlocks significant shareholder value, returning approximately £1.3 billion in net cash to the Group.”
However, challenges remain. Mann noted that integrating the two companies’ network infrastructures will be no easy feat.
“The merged company’s biggest task will be to combine two established mobile networks… CEO Max Taylor will also face difficult decisions in areas such as brand, retail, jobs, and market positioning.”
Despite these hurdles, the merger is expected to send positive signals across Europe’s telecom sector.
“The green light will be looked on positively by the broader European telecom sector… It may give operators in other markets fresh confidence to strike new deals of their own,” Mann concluded.
Paolo Pescatore, TMT analyst at PP Foresight, called it “a big day for the UK telco industry,” highlighting the multi-brand strategy of VodafoneThree as a smart move to target distinct market segments. With over 29 million subscribers, he noted that “retaining the existing base and upselling additional services should be the near-term priority.”
He added that the combined company has a strong opportunity to disrupt the fixed-line market through both fixed wireless access and fibre broadband, especially given Three’s early success with home broadband offerings. “Expect to see this more broadly marketed—likely at a premium,” he said.
On convergence, Pescatore suggested VodafoneThree could become a content aggregator or possibly relaunch its own TV service, though “this is unlikely to be a day-one priority.” He also urged a stronger push into the enterprise market, given the company’s spectrum assets and network scale.
However, he warned, “It will not be easy to integrate networks without disrupting customers. Make no mistake—the arduous work starts now.”
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