Vodafone and Three UK have just days to convince Britain's competition authorities that a merger will not harm consumers. Failure to do so will result in a deeper investigation into the proposed corporate marriage.
The UK regulator cites Vodafone's merger with Three for deep competition
The pair went public with the tie-up in June, pledging to sink £11 billion into 5G infrastructure over the next decade. Unions have already expressed concern about the deal, arguing it could force up prices for the combined 27 million customers of both companies, ultimately increasing profit margins for shareholders.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began examining the potential impact of the merger in January to determine whether it could lead to less competition, and today decided that reducing the total number of four mobile operators to three is a cause for concern. .
"Millions of people in the UK depend on effective competition in the mobile market to get access to the best deals for them," said Julie Bon, Phase 1 decision maker at the CMA.
