Vodafone and Three UK announce merger to form UK’s largest mobile phone operator

Vodafone and the owner of Three UK have announced a deal to merge their UK-based operations and become the nation’s largest mobile phone operator.

The merger would mean the combined companies would have around 27 million customers, taking it past the current biggest provider Virgin Media O2, which has around 24 million.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed that it will examine the combination.

The companies said that “from day one, millions of customers of Vodafone UK and Three UK will enjoy a better network experience with greater coverage and reliability at no extra cost”.

The companies also stated that the merger will result in creating “one of Europe’s most advanced standalone 5G networks”.

Last month, Vodafone announced plans to cut 11,000 jobs over the next three years and it is thought that this will affect the company’s UK headquarters in Newbury.

These cuts are thought to still be going ahead despite the merger.