Mobile merger turnaround

Why has the UK’s competition watchdog as good as rubber-stamped the Vodafone/Three merger, despite huge concerns? Barry Collins investigates

You are the competition regulator. Your own lengthy investigation has found that a merger would increase prices for consumers by up to 20%, reduce competition in the market as a whole, and likely not deliver the promised network improvements suggested by the two merging parties. Do you (a) block the merger, or (b) give it your conditional blessing? If you’re the UK’s Competitions and Market Authority (CMA), it seems the answer is (b). Just months after finding that the merger of Vodafone and Three would likely do significant harm to consumers and the mobile market in general, the man in charge of leading the CMA’s investigation, Stuart McIntosh, said he believed “this deal has the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector if our concerns are addressed”. The…

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PC Pro (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 2025

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