New Report Shows Network Benefits of the Vodafone and Three UK Merger

A new “independent” report from Frontier Economics claims to show, after its first year of operation, that the merger between mobile operators Vodafone and Three UK (VodafoneThree) is already “delivering tangible consumer benefits, driven by greater scale, faster integration and improved efficiency“.

Just to recap. VodafoneThree quickly established a post-merger plan to invest £11bn into upgrading the UK’s 5G mobile infrastructure and coverage over the next decade (here, here and here). The combined business has also previously stated that it aspires to reach more than 99.95% of the UK population with their 5G Standalone (5GSA / 5G+) network by 2034 and push fixed wireless access (mobile home broadband) to 82% of households by 2030, among other things.

Since the merger, the operators have thus been busy bringing both their operations, products and networks closer together. For example, one of the first big benefits to start rolling out reflected the adoption of a new Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN). This allows customers to roam across both networks at no extra cost (whichever one provides the best signal), but it will take several years to be fully deployed.

The new report – ‘The Vodafone-Three Merger: One Year On‘ (PDF) – reflects those developments and attempts to summarise the impacts. But while the report may be technically independent, it’s still worth highlighting that it was created after Vodafone specifically asked Frontier Economics to assess the progress they’d made in the first year following completion of the merger. Some of the key findings can be seen below.

VodafoneThree one year on – key network stats

➤ Spectrum sharing was deployed extensively within weeks of deal close: additional Vodafone 1800MHz spectrum has been deployed on nearly 15,000 legacy Three sites, boosting 4G speeds for more than 7 million customers by an average of 20%, with increases of up to 40% in some areas.

➤ The implementation of reciprocal site access means that customers can now benefit from the combined geographic coverage of the two networks. By February 2026, MOCN had removed more than 16,500 km² of not-spots.

➤ MOCN has also expanded the areas where customers can access 5G services: between May 2025 and March 2026, 5G population coverage increased by around 9% (from 59% to 64%) for Vodafone customers, and around 10% for Three customers (from 65% to 72%).

➤ 5G speeds have improved materially: Vodafone 5G average download speeds increased by 38%, from 172 Mbps to 237 Mbps, between April 2025 and March 2026, while Three 5G average download speeds increased by 9%, from 313 Mbps to 341 Mbps.

➤ Data usage has accelerated: annual data consumption growth increased from 12% in FY25 to 21% in FY26 on the Vodafone network and from 9% to 26% on the Three network, well above recent market-wide growth of 15.2%.

NOTE: The mobile broadband speed test results above appear to be based on data supplied by Ookla (Speedtest.net).

According to the conclusion, “millions of customers are experiencing stronger, faster and more reliable connectivity without upward pressure on prices” as a result of the merger, although it remains unclear how long Three UK and its MVNOs will maintain their current status as providers for more budget consious consumers.

Over time there remains a deep-rooted suspicion among many consumers that prices will rise, but it’s still too early to judge. On the other hand, the report does claim the merger has delivered “more value for customers from lower cost per GB [GigaByte] and higher usage, driven by expanded network capacity“.

Joakim Reiter, Vodafone Group Chief External & Corporate Affairs Officer, said:

“The UK experience provides clear, real-world evidence that consolidation can deliver better outcomes for consumers. One year on, the Vodafone–Three merger is already driving better networks, broader coverage and improved value, while sustaining healthy retail competition across the market. This shows there is no inherent trade-off between scale and competition in infrastructure-based industries like telecoms.”

Europe is at a critical juncture in modernising its competition framework. The EU now has a unique opportunity to adopt a more future-proof approach, free from outdated biases, with fair, evidence-based assessments in the service of customers, competition and investment. The UK experience clearly shows this is possible.”

At the end of the day, we’d much rather see a truly independent study of mobile network change and performance from organisations that haven’t been given a specific direction by Vodafone, although the reality is that doing something like that is a very difficult and expensive task. Some independent studies, such as from Streetwave, might in the future be better placed to map such changes than others, but they can’t yet present a complete picture of the UK.

The full report is worth a read, although it’s worth remember that it will take several more years for the benefits of this merger to be fully realised and so there’s a long way to go yet.