Vodafone Sales Rise As Merger With Three UK Gains Momentum

Vodafone has reported a jump in UK sales following the completion of its long-awaited merger with Three, as the newly formed VodafoneThree begins combining networks and scaling up operations.

The telecoms firm said UK sales rose 14.5 percent to €1.9 billion (£1.65 billion) in the three months to the end of June, compared with the same period last year. The increase was largely driven by the addition of Three’s customer base after the merger cleared final regulatory hurdles last month.

Vodafone said it had made a “fast start” on integration efforts, despite some early customer losses. The number of UK mobile contract customers fell by 46,000 in the quarter, a result of Three UK’s shrinking consumer base and some large corporate disconnections.

Mobile service revenues rose by 20 percent, even as Vodafone implemented smaller price rises than the previous year.

VodafoneThree, which now serves around 29 million customers, has committed to investing £11 billion over the next decade, including major upgrades to its 5G network. The scale of that investment helped ease concerns from the Competition and Markets Authority, which had initially raised red flags over the impact of the deal on pricing and consumer choice.

The merger was first announced in June 2023 and completed at the end of May this year, creating the largest mobile network in the UK.

Across Vodafone Group, which includes operations in Europe and Africa, revenues rose by 3.9 percent to €9.4 billion (£8.15 billion) for the quarter. The company saw declines in its largest market, Germany, where revenues dropped 3.2 percent amid changes to TV broadcasting laws and heightened competition in mobile.

Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle said the UK merger marked a turning point for the business. “We have completed the merger with Three and are moving quickly to combine our networks to benefit customers,” she said. “After two years of transformation and change, Vodafone is now well positioned for multi-year growth across both Europe and Africa.”