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

Opensignal: Three UK dominates in 5G download speed, leads in availability

Three UK has achieved some impressive 5G results in OpenSignal’s latest Mobile Network Experience Report.

The UK’s smallest mobile operator by subscribers got its name from being the first to launch a 3G network in the country. When it came to 4G, many reports found that Three often fell behind rivals in speed and availability.

With the rollout of 5G now fully underway, Three is making a serious effort to secure its leadership.

Three UK customers saw...

7 April 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

Watchdog issues another warning to Three over ‘real 5G’ claims

ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has issued another warning to Three against making claims that it offers “real 5G” in marketing campaigns.

Rival operator EE first issued a formal complaint to ASA back in 2019 after Three boasted, “If it’s not Three, it’s not real 5G”. More recently, Vodafone issued a complaint about Three’s TV ad claiming that it was creating Britain's fastest mobile network and that consumers should "join the future on Three, it's real...

21 July 2021 | Networks

Opinion: EE brings back fees for EU-roaming Brits

British operator EE is planning to reintroduce fees for roaming in the EU from next year while others are lowering their existing fair use policies.

Back in 2018, I wrote an opinion piece that roaming fees were unlikely to make a return. Anti-Brexit campaigner and Labour MP Hilary Benn tweeted this week that it hasn’t aged well:

In my defence, all of the operators committed not to reintroduce roaming fees—a pledge they recommitted to as late as January...

25 June 2021 | Networks

Vodafone, Three, and O2 commit to building 222 masts together

Three of the UK’s four major telcos have committed to building 222 new masts as part of an endeavour to address rural coverage issues.

Vodafone, O2, and Three UK will build and share the new masts to improve rural 4G coverage across all four nations of the United Kingdom.

Nick Jeffery, CEO of Vodafone UK, said:

“We know connectivity is vital and the only way to fill the holes in the UK’s mobile coverage is to work together.

Our unique collaboration...

27 January 2021 | Legislation & Government