Vodafone and Three UK tie the knot as CMA gives the thumbs up

Vodafone UK and Three UK have officially tied the knot as CMA gives the thumbs up on the merger with some conditions.

The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) officially approved the merger with the condition that both networks spend big on 5G infrastructure, they will also have to offer capped plans on certain contracts and offer preset contractual terms to mobile virtual network operators, for a period of 3 years.

Although the merger has been agreed today the CMA could still block it if the conditions are not met.

The plan is to make sure customers of both Vodafone and Three UK are not impacted by the merger and competition between other network increases so that prices do not go through the roof.

MVNO’s (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) such as Smarty and Vox and others who piggy back of both Vodafone and Three’s signal will also not be entirely affected by the merger although there is some smaller MVNO’s who are not entirely happy.

This tie up will also mean Three UK customers will have a 2G signal for the first time although will not have any 3G signal due to it being ended.

Despite the presumed extra money both networks are going to pump into 5G infrastructure they will still come up against fierce battles with a growing number of people who do not want 5G over safety concerns, due to mobile masts having to go through planning at a local council this gives these people the chance to object to an application and most of the time the council agrees and refuses a mast on siting and appearance.

Three 5G whilst if you are almost on top of a mast is superfast anything over 100m in any direction the signal is very poor and speeds are lower than 4G, this will change once both networks sort out signals.