Vodafone/Three merger

The Competition Commission is "concerned" that the proposed merger between Vodafone and Three may result in less competition and higher prices for consumers. As it is crystal clear that prices will rise -- that's why they're merging -- then why doesn't the Commission DO something instead of waffling its"concern"?

This quango seems as toothless as Ofcom which agreed the crazy annual increase of 3.9% plus inflation -- threby producing last year's 14% windfall for the networks.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

then why doesn't the Commission DO something instead of waffling its"concern"?

They've just reported at the end of step 1. Step 2 (starting now) is to look at "remedies" to resolve the competitions concerns, one of those remedies could be to disallow the merger, others could be to offload radio spectrum to competitors, etc.

Toothless sounds about right, like most if not all the so-called regulators in this country. Acts when it suits them
I am using Smarty, which is run by Three and it is good value for me and the signal quality is great. I don't want to go back to Vodafone, the problem is who do you go to?
My main problem with Three is that it is Chinese, which is a bit of a shame.

As i said, who to go with if the merger do go ahead? EE is BT and to be honest I rather not use EE and O2 is part of Virgin.

Crazy

I never go to a network directly anyway, I would always go for an MVNO, normally cheaper.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Toothless sounds about right, like most if not all the so-called regulators in this country.

Maybe read this article, and see if "toothless" is right. This is a legal process that takes a long time, that has just got to one of the first reporting stages.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/09/cma-de...

We will see, but at the end of that article it says At present we think the odds are fairly good that a solution can be found that will enable the merger to proceed, albeit not without some sacrifice. So a merger is going to happen and i doubt the sacrifice will be enough to make any difference.,
As I said, Toothless.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

So a merger is going to happen and i doubt the sacrifice will be enough to make any difference.,

I'm not sure, but I know the EE and O2 would likely go to the courts if the merger was permitted without any remedies. The joined company would have an unfair mix of raido spectrum to start with.

@zyborg47
Choice is narrowing and depends on your usage. Most of our community group use very little data and live on our pensions so we use Lebara (Vodafone) or 1pmobile (EE). We were on Three until they ditched their 123 package. No Vodafone signal around our area so we had to cancel Lebara, EE blank elsewhere so best to buy a couple of £1 SIM from supermarket which will let you try signal strengths in your own area.

so you think when the merger happens that the 3 network will be turned off and everyone will be moved to vodafone

They are merging to save money, increase their network reach and reduce staff costs.

and not to put prices up.

In reply to a post by pyarwood:

so you think when the merger happens that the 3 network will be turned off and everyone will be moved to vodafone

???? I don't know how you conclude that from the post you are replying to.

In reply to a post by pyarwood:

They are merging to save money, increase their network reach and reduce staff costs. and not to put prices up.

That's their marketing, we have to see if the CMA believes it.

There are serious reports that Three's backers don't feel it worth investing any more money in the UK network; given they have spent Billions over 21 years and they are still 4th out of 4 in subscriber numbers.

the poster said I dont want the merger to progress because they dont want to go back to the vodafone network that is non existent in their area like vodafone will turn off the 3 network there.

Its not just marketing its why EVERY company merges with a competitor

yes it could allow them to increase prices but its a bit hypocritical to say this merger will have
any more affect on prices then the BT/EE buyout did (the closure of plusnet mobile certainly put up prices) or the merger of O2/Virgin now that Virgin mobile has been closed increased prices.
so its a bit rich to allow 2 companies to get bigger and then say the others cannot.

In reply to a post by pyarwood:

Its not just marketing its why EVERY company merges with a competitor

I didn’t say “just”, and at the start of this pointless thread I commented that the CMA does multiple phases, and only just ended phase 2 of likely 3. Speculation is pointless on what the Govt will require.

Some remedies required, stop mergers going ahead. Some organisations accept remedies and go ahead anyway, such as when Aqiva bought National Grid Wireless (NGW) their only competitor.

O2 & Three was blocked by CMA & EU investigations, and then years later it was admitted they were wrong. This may or may not impact this proposed merger. The Orange & T-mobile merger of 2010 is a) long time ago, and b) dropping from 5 to 4 networks had become common.

4 to 3 is also not unheard of in Europe and USA….

What happens next.. nobody knows.

If it goes ahead, of course they will go for economies of scale, sometimes these are easier (people) and harder (usually IT) to achieve.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

So a merger is going to happen and i doubt the sacrifice will be enough to make any difference.,

I'm not sure, but I know the EE and O2 would likely go to the courts if the merger was permitted without any remedies. The joined company would have an unfair mix of raido spectrum to start with.

And yet, EE was made up from two different companies merging and then BT buying them up.

In reply to a post by Malwaremike:

@zyborg47
Choice is narrowing and depends on your usage. Most of our community group use very little data and live on our pensions so we use Lebara (Vodafone) or 1pmobile (EE). We were on Three until they ditched their 123 package. No Vodafone signal around our area so we had to cancel Lebara, EE blank elsewhere so best to buy a couple of £1 SIM from supermarket which will let you try signal strengths in your own area.

I am using Smarty at the moment, I have a sim only contract that cost me a fiver and for that I get 4GB of data, unlimited text and voice. It is fine for my use I don't need any more data than that, most of the time my phone is connected to Wi-Fi.

3 is fine here signal wise, Vodafone is not so good, as trying out my brother's mobile hotspot that uses Vodafone here proved.
The thing is it is not my area that is the problem, most providers have Wi-Fi calling these days, it is when I am away from my area that I need the reliability

In reply to a post by pyarwood:

so you think when the merger happens that the 3 network will be turned off and everyone will be moved to vodafone

Where did you get that from? Never said anything like it. I just don't like Vodafone a despicable company with a customer service that is about as useful as a bucket with a hole in.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that if the merger do go ahead, there will be some doubling up and masts will be switched off to save money.

Another situation where one minnow networks owners said “this isn’t working financially for us” and put their network up for sale.

The choice is what it is, and out of a bunch of bad options the choice is still very clear: https://rootmetrics.com/en-GB/content/uk-mobile-perf...

After a go at lyca, LOL, EE look like saints. Not all MVNO's are equal it seems.

I have 3 iPhones with EE direct for £109, can't really complain. Data is great, calls are great, texts are great, customer service is better than the others. In fact, Vodafone CS is awful, virgin's is enough to make me wanna cry, and so it's O2 or EE... O2's signal is like I'm rocking a 2005 flip phone, as it takes a trip though time between 2G and 5G with what appears to be demonstrating the last time they covered the country properly with any technology was in the days of EDGE

Edited by ukhardy07 (Tue 17-Sep-24 02:45:35)

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

The choice is what it is, and out of a bunch of bad options the choice is still very clear: https://rootmetrics.com/en-GB/content/uk-mobile-perf...

This data is great if you move around the UK a lot, otherwise I suggest to friends they try the networks in their own area, at the pub, at the office, at home, at the supermarket, using PAYG SIMs (often available for £1 each in places such as Shell petrol stations). Likely more locally useful than any of the 3 national surveys.

After a go at lyca, LOL, EE look like saints. Not all MVNO's are equal it seems.

The MVNOs are a complete random bunch, some can be great (VOXI or SMARTY in my experience) and then I found giffgaff was problematic for me. Turns out the O2 signal in this town is not keeping up with Vodafone, so none of the O2 based networks work for me.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

The choice is what it is, and out of a bunch of bad options the choice is still very clear: https://rootmetrics.com/en-GB/content/uk-mobile-perf...

After a go at lyca, LOL, EE look like saints. Not all MVNO's are equal it seems.

I have 3 iPhones with EE direct for £109, can't really complain. Data is great, calls are great, texts are great, customer service is better than the others. In fact, Vodafone CS is awful, virgin's is enough to make me wanna cry, and so it's O2 or EE... O2's signal is like I'm rocking a 2005 flip phone, as it takes a trip though time between 2G and 5G with what appears to be demonstrating the last time they covered the country properly with any technology was in the days of EDGE

I am fine with Smarty, I pay very little for the amount i need, I don't need loads of data. I hope that the government stop the merger, but I can't see it myself.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

I hope that the government stop the merger, but I can't see it myself.

At the moment its not allowed. As both companies have "significant market power" it was referred to the CMA to adjudicate. The CMA has produced the first report, there are other steps to go. The CMA could rule that the merger is not permitted, and if so the companies could go to court for a review.

In most cases, the CMA would rule that "allowed with conditions" and the conditions may be so tough that the companies choose not to merge.

Lots of stuff still to find out.