VodafoneThree begins operation with 5G SA, broadband push

Two years after the merger of the two leading UK connectivity companies completed, VodafoneThree is now set to challenge the mobile arena and the UK’s broadband market by aiming to cover all homes with fibre or fibre-like speeds, boosting this ambition with a new partnership with Community Fibre.

Vodafone and Three first announced plans to merge in June 2023 and the new combined business will operate under the VodafoneThree brand, with 51% owned by Vodafone Group and 49% by CK Hutchison Group Telecom (CKHGT) Holdings. Vodafone will fully consolidate VodafoneThree in its financial results and the company’s CEO will be Max Taylor, who currently leads Vodafone UK. Three UK’s Darren Purkis has been appointed chief financial officer (CFO).

Backed by an £11bn infrastructure investment – one of the key guarantees by the two companies to gain closure of the deal from UK regulatory authorities – to connect all four nations and every community, VodafoneThree will be the biggest mobile network operator in the UK, with 27 million customers.

In addition, it said that it is the only UK operator with a quarter-by-quarter, year-by-year, guaranteed plan to reach 99.95% 5G Standalone (5G SA) population coverage by 2034. The 5G SA network build-out plan is front-loaded so that it will hit 90% population coverage from a current baseline of 47% by the end of the third year.

VodafoneThree assured that up to 50 million people will have access to its fastest 5G speeds in just one year. Explaining why it is emphasising 5G SA, the company said only such networks will have the capacity and speed to manage the vast amounts of data that applications such as AI will require, meaning that the target is to build the first nationwide, AI-ready network.

The new merged company will operate a multi-brand mobile strategy in consumer with Vodafone, Three, VOXI, Smarty and Talkmobile remaining, while Vodafone will be the only brand for business customers, with one team able to tailor systems to a customer’s needs, with the ambition to become the UK’s biggest converged network for business.

Over the course of the next 12 months, VodafoneThree will bring Three’s fixed wireless access services together with Vodafone’s full-fibre offer into one home broadband portfolio under the Vodafone brand. There will only be one converged brand for both businesses and consumers.

Through the sharing of combined spectrum, VodafoneThree said that within two weeks, seven million Three and Smarty customers will receive a 4G boost, with an improvement in 4G data speed of up to 20%. Within a few months, all legacy Vodafone and Three mobile customers will gain access to roam on each other’s networks at no extra cost.

This is intended to remove a total of 16,500 sq/km of “not spots” – said to be equivalent to 10x the size of London – by the end of the 2025, with the first sites already having been turned on. Taking advantage of Vodafone’s recent partnership with AST Space Mobile, VodafoneThree said that it will launch beta trials on a “first-of-its-kind”, space-based satellite mobile network by June 2026. The space communications platform will complement the existing network build, eliminating coverage gaps in places that otherwise couldn’t be reached.

While much of the merger focus has been on mobile, VodafoneThree said that it will challenge the broadband market, bringing better value and choice through existing and new partnerships. The new company boasts more than million customers and can currently bring fibre or fibre-like speeds of up to 2.2Gbps to 22.5 million homes and businesses.

The merger has attracted support from across the communications industry and from the world of politics. Commenting on what it could achieve, chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves, said: “I’m delighted that that this huge investment is being made in mobile phone network infrastructure, better connecting people with families, loved ones and work by providing stronger, more widespread 5G coverage.

“Our Spending Review is all about growing our economy and attracting private investment to deliver on our Plan for Change, and it’s fantastic that VodafoneThree have chosen to join us on our mission of national renewal.”