Vodafone confirms merger talks with Three UK

Vodafone has confirmed that it’s in talks with Three to merge their UK operations.

Following recent speculation, Vodafone confirmed today that it’s in discussions with Three-owner CK Hutchison Holdings Limited to combine the companies.

The proposed transaction would result in Vodafone owning 51 percent of the combined business while CK Hutchison would own the remaining 49 percent.

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at Uswitch, comments: “Two of the UK mobile...

3 October 2022 | Networks

India plans nationwide 5G coverage within two years

The Taj Mahal at the sunrise.

India's National Broadband Mission, which operates under the Ministry of Communications, has revealed that the country's Government will announce the launch of 5G services in the country at India Mobile Congress on October 1.

Mukesh Ambani, India's Reliance Industries’ chairman, Bharti Airtel’s CEO, Sunil Mittal, and Vodafone Idea India’s CEO, Ravinder Takkar, are expected to unveil the plan during a joint presentation at the event.

According to reports, the...

28 September 2022 | 5G

UK MNO customers will enjoy 4G/5G across the London Tube

Customers of all four UK mobile network operators (MNOs) will enjoy 4G/5G connectivity across the London Tube.

Shashi Verma, CTO at Transport for London (TfL), said:

“Mobile connectivity across the stations and tunnels across the Tube network will help our customers stay connected more easily as well as work, shop and stay in touch on the move. 

I’m delighted that all four major mobile operators are set to provide high-speed, uninterrupted 4G coverage on the...

8 July 2022 | 5G

Vodafone is now the UK’s largest full-fibre provider

Vodafone has become the UK’s largest provider of full-fibre broadband.

Full-fibre is up to 25 times faster than copper broadband and five times more reliable. Vodafone’s full-fibre services are now available to over eight million homes—more than TalkTalk, Sky, BT, and Virgin Media.

Broadband provider (consumer sales)Number of premises Full Fibre (FTTP or FTTH) is available atVodafone8,007,839TalkTalk7,918,492Sky7,361,859BT7,267,221Virgin Media1,104,862

Max...

13 June 2022 | Broadband

Vodafone partners with Ericsson for on-demand 5G network slicing

Vodafone and Ericsson have partnered up to deliver the UK’s first on-demand 5G network slicing.

Network slicing enables multiple virtual network “slices” to be created. These slices operate across the same physical network but are isolated from other traffic to ensure high performance for specific use cases.

Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer at Vodafone UK, said:

“Network slicing is an incredibly valuable step forward. By segmenting our network, and...

15 March 2022 | 5G

Vodafone UK waives Ukraine call and roaming fees

Vodafone UK is waiving all call fees to Ukraine in addition to providing free data roaming to customers in the country.

Ahmed Essam Shelbaya, CEO of Vodafone UK, tweeted:

https://twitter.com/AhmedShelbaya/status/1497191194887135269

In addition to the decision to help people keep in touch with their loved ones, Vodafone is making a donation to relevant humanitarian efforts.

“We will also donate, through the Vodafone Foundation, up to €500k from its...

25 February 2022 | Operators

Vodafone opens R&D centre to design its own Open RAN chips

Vodafone has opened Europe’s first dedicated R&D centre to help the operator design its own Open RAN chips.

Open RAN helps to break up the relative monopoly held by a handful of telecoms equipment vendors and provide greater diversity in national infrastructure.

An increasing number of governments and operators are supportive of Open RAN for its benefits of helping to lower costs, prevent vendor lock-in, and lessen the impact of decisions like banning Huawei from...

31 January 2022 | Networks

Vodafone will begin shuttering 3G in 2023 to improve 4G/5G services

Vodafone has announced plans to begin shuttering its 3G network in 2023 to focus on improving 4G/5G services.

The operator says that less than 4 percent of data traffic across its network is now delivered via 3G—compared to over 30 percent in 2016. By the end of this year, the amount of 3G traffic is likely to have dwindled even further.

With the vast amount of traffic carried over 4G – and increasingly 5G – it makes sense for Vodafone to improve those...

25 January 2022 | 5G

Vodafone activates the UK’s first live 5G Open RAN site

Vodafone has switched on the UK’s first live 5G Open RAN site as part of thousands it has planned.

The groundbreaking site was delivered in partnership with Samsung, Wind River, Dell, Intel, Keysight Technologies, and Capgemini Engineering—proving the interoperability benefits of Open RAN.

Here’s what each partner is delivering:

Samsung: Virtualised Radio Access Network (vRAN) Solutions, as well as technical, product, and integration supportDell: Common Off...

19 January 2022 | 5G

RootMetrics: EE maintains UK mobile network performance lead

The latest UK Mobile Performance Review from RootMetrics finds that EE remains the operator to beat.

EE earned the top spot across all seven of RootMetrics’ performance categories: Overall Performance, Reliability, Accessibility, Speed, Data, Call, and Text. The operator took home 109 of 112 RootScore Awards in major metropolitan areas.

Patrick Linder, Sr. Director of Marketing and Communications at RootMetrics, said:

“As the UK’s hunger for data...

19 January 2022 | 5G