Vodafone and Three UK Mega Mobile Merger Gets Final Approval UPDATE
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today finally granted approval for mobile operators Vodafone and Three UK to proceed with their merger deal (here), which will result in an expansion of their 5G Standalone (SA) network (broadband) coverage. But the merged company will have to comply with new legal obligations and consumer pricing controls.
The merger, which is said to be worth £15bn+ and will see Vodafone retain a 51% slice of the business and CK Hutchison (Three UK) hold 49%, has been promoted by the operators as being “great for customers, great for the country and great for competition,” while also resulting in a major £11bn investment to upgrade the UK’s 5G mobile (broadband) infrastructure and network coverage. This would also help the government’s own 5G targets.
However, the CMA’s Phase 2 investigation (here) found that reducing the number of primary mobile operators from 4 to 3 would result in a “Significant Lessening of Competition” (SLC), giving rise to various concerns at the retail and wholesale level. Some examples included the risk of higher prices for consumers, reduced quality, dominance of spectrum ownership, tedious confidentiality issues with conflicting network sharing agreements (e.g. EE and Three UK) and less competition at the virtual operator [MVNO] level.
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Despite the concerns, the competition watchdog left the door open to an agreement by recommending some possible remedies (here). The operators responded to that by setting out a series of commitments (here), which included making their network coverage targets enforceable by Ofcom (binding), divesting some radio spectrum bands to O2 (partly supported by Vodafone’s recent network sharing deal with VMO2 – here), providing a new reference offer to satisfy MVNO providers and limited protections for some retail prices.
The CMA finally responded to that earlier this month by finding that the deal, with a few tweaks to the aforementioned commitments, could in fact “solve [the] competition concerns identified in September and allow the merger to go ahead” (here). Both Vodafone and Three UK responded positively to those changes, and the merger has today been given final approval to proceed.
The legally binding commitments require:
➤ Delivery of the joint network plan, which sets out the network upgrade, integration and improvements Vodafone and Three will make to their combined network across the UK over the next 8 years. The group has concluded that by significantly improving the quality of the combined network, the full implementation of this plan would boost competition between the mobile network operators in the long term, benefiting millions of people who rely on mobile services.
➤ Capping selected mobile tariffs and data plans for 3 years, directly protecting large numbers of Vodafone / Three customers from short-term price rises in the early years of the network plan.
➤ Offering pre-set prices and contract terms for wholesale services (again for 3 years) to ensure that virtual network providers can obtain competitive terms and conditions as the network plan is rolled out.
The network commitment will be overseen by both Ofcom and the CMA, with the merged company also required to publish an annual report setting out its progress on the implementation of the network plan. The CMA would have responsibility for monitoring and enforcing the protections relating to consumer tariffs and wholesale terms. See the CMA’s Final Report for more details.
Stuart McIntosh, Chair of the CMA’s Inquiry Group, said:
“It’s crucial this merger doesn’t harm competition, which is why we’ve spent time considering how it could impact the telecoms market.
Having carefully considered the evidence, as well as the extensive feedback we have received, we believe the merger is likely to boost competition in the UK mobile sector and should be allowed to proceed – but only if Vodafone and Three agree to implement our proposed measures.
Both Ofcom and the CMA would oversee the implementation of these legally binding commitments, which would help enhance the UK’s 5G capability whilst preserving effective competition in the sector.”
Matthew Howett, Founder & CEO at Assembly Research, said:
“Since 2010, Europe has seen 10 attempts at in-market mobile consolidation, with the majority (seven) approved with commitments (often structural that undermined the rationale for the merger), one cleared unconditionally, one blocked and one abandoned. At the start of this process, the clearance of Three/Vodafone based on behavioural remedies would’ve appeared an unlikely route for the CMA to take, but one that over time has made sense. Approval with a structural remedy that created a new fourth mobile network operator would not have – pretty much everyone agreed on that (Italy’s expected reconsolidation points to why). The CMA itself has become more comfortable with this merger as its robust investigation has gone on, utilising expert input from industry, and crucially Ofcom (more on that later), to understand the likely impacts.
Be in no doubt – while largely a formality at this point, today’s final report, and green lighting of the merger, sets the wheels in motion for a transformation of the UK’s mobile market, and ultimately the experience for consumers. There is still a chance Sky may seek to challenge the decision, but a successful appeal to the CAT would be hard-fought, expensive and face a high bar. We expect positive implications overall, not only for investment in, and the quality of, networks (including standalone 5G), but also for the wholesale customers and consumers and businesses that rely on them.
The remedies package and headline investment commitment mean that the CMA’s work in this case is not quite over – and for Ofcom it’s just getting started. While it will be incumbent on a combined Three/Vodafone to invest and implement the requisite customer protections, Ofcom will play a vital (and new) role with respect to oversight and enforcement. Importantly, the regulator seems emboldened to assume these responsibilities. Its monitoring will need to be carried out in an agile way as possible to ensure the merged entity is living up to expectations and to minimise any risk of circumvention or market distortions that some have warned about.”
Sky UK recently threatened to launch a legal challenge (appeal) if the proposed merger was allowed to proceed (here), unless significant changes were made to the competition remedies. The final remedies appear to be much the same as we saw in the CMA’s provisional ruling, which is unlikely to go down well with Sky. But any battle, should one surface, would be a long, expensive and difficult process – while facing a high bar for success.
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The CMA’s final ruling is similarly unlikely to convince the doubters, with many consumers being particularly concerned about what will happen to cheaper mobile plans once the three-year period of price protection has elapsed. The fears of future price hikes and the gradual removal of cheaper plans from the UK market are unlikely to go away anytime soon.
On the flip side, the move should help the Government to deliver on their “renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030,” which is something that Ofcom will need to ensure is delivered. At the same time, rivals will no doubt feel more pressure from the merged group, which could trigger more network investment and help to enhance services. But there will no doubt also be job losses as both of the merger parties seek a more efficient operation and to remove duplication of roles.
In addition, EE has previously raised concerns about the deal exposing some of their commercial sensitive details with Vodafone (due to Three UK and EE holding a network sharing agreement via MBNL). But the CMA “consider it is unlikely” that this information shared via MBNL would even be useful in informing the Merged Entity’s investment plans given its limitations (including, for example, how far in advance the information is shared and the scale of information shared).
Finally, it’s worth remembering that mergers of this size often take several years to go through all the motions, which means that we won’t see any huge changes just yet. Instead, the story will be one of gradual changes and no doubt plenty more headlines to come as those surface.
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UPDATE 10:38am
Vodafone and Three UK have said they anticipate “legal completion” of the merger will take between three to six months from today.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Was there ever any doubt.
Too much money involved for this to fail
Yeah, not just between them either.
Now the U.K will have less choice, higher prices for a worse service. typical U.K
I work for Three in the head office. Look forward to losing my job!
Yeah……can see it a mile off. What an early Christmas present for Three staff!
I should think only if you’re at director or senior manager level.
Three Retail here, they definitely won’t be needing a Three and Vodafone shop on the same high street so looking forward to finding out which of us loses our job
Oh that you will, just hope you’ve been there a while and the payout is decent. Vodafone have gone full hammer on their UK staff believe me! Blaming ‘rising costs’ sorry can anyone smell that…… cows? Sheep? Nahhh I know what it is…… it’s bull……
Yeah not surprised. There will be several restructures in the future as integration takes place no doubt.
At least from what I’ve know off the integration teams, once the senior leadership is in position (which is going to be 50/50, Three/Voda) then both companies will actually have to reapply for their jobs under the new structure. I’m lucky that in my job the role certainly has scope for growth with a bigger company, and don’t have much in terms of competition so we will see. If get redundancy that’s also a win as long as they keep the current terms which legally essentially they are obliged to – we will see how that goes but it will be a few months!
Feel bad for retail staff though, Vodafone franchise owners are just a bunch of cowboys – Three generally does a really good job treating their staff with regards to pay, bonuses, and people policy. Vodafone could really learn and benefit from Three’s culture. Hopefully the integration team/firm see that produce a better company and strip out the bad elements. Wishful thinking though I’m sure!
Three retail will close, maybe they will keep a couple of stores but it will be Vodafone branded and franchised owned.
How long before Three / Vodafone Shops start to close due to re structure
What will this do for coverage, will VM3 now be able to claim best coverage in the country (instead of EE?)
Not for a long time. Three network will be shuttered and it will take years for Vodafone to invest and overtake, it will get worse in the next few years. Look what happened in Virgin and O2..network gone to hell, only Three/Voda is so much bigger so the strain will be greater.
@Abc123
Difference between O2 and VM is that VM did not have their own physical network; they operated for years as an MVNO on EE and EE’s predecessors. 3 and Voda both have their own physical network infrastructure, so the merger will be quite different.
@Matt that makes no sense. Especially when they’ve just announced moving 1000 O2 sites onto the VM fixed network.
Shifting Virgin Mobile from EE to Voda initially and then to O2 was relatively simple as an MVNO.
In my case, where I live Vodafone may actually imrpove as there’s a 3 mast nearby.
However, I also expect them to eventually start shutting masts off where they believe there’s overlap, so quality may also decline over time.
After orange and tmobile merged to make EE, they removed the tmobile mast in my village and we now EE has poor signal.
@Dave
I don’t see how it doesn’t make sense. Comparing a consolidation of two networks with physical infrastructure vs one with physical and one that operates as an MVNO are entirely different things.
Funnily enough this the Three head office Christmas party today. I’m sure that will be a laugh later, all your getting sack next month. Vodafone is an archaic brand, hopefully at least they rebrand.
Lets hope they follow in JaGuar’s footsteps….
Vodafone is one of the most successful telecoms brands around the world, with Vodafone networks in many countries. There is no way the Vodafone brand will be going.
They will keep the Vodafone brand, Three will likely cease trading. But Vodafone will have to have a brand refresh, like what EE has recently done in October to compete and stay relevant – otherwise this will be doomed to failure. Vodafone have not been performing well, whereas Three while smaller is the fastest growing network, fastest growing ARPU, more innovative, better rewards system – the new entity will likely keep these assets and strip Vodafone of what is not working in the merged (takeover) entity. Everyone else at Three is toast.
I do not think the “Three” brand will disappear. There are advantages to retaining it and perhaps refocusing similar to the way BT has refocused the EE brand. It might essentially become an MVNO on top of the core networks provided by Vodafone.
Further, even though the merger has been given the go-ahead it will still take time to finalise the merger and then to start restructuring the business.
Prople still dont get what this ‘merger’ was all about. It is a takeover NOT a merger. They wont rebrand. Theyll carry on separate branding for a while, then 3 brand will be erased. The network will be called Vodafone.
@ ThankYouCMAfromVodaShareholders
That’s not correct, it is a merger and will result in a joint venture between Vodafone Group and Hutchinson. But after 3 years Vodafone have an option to buy out Hutchinson. Just like VMO2 is a joint venture between Telefonica and Liberty Global (the owners of the original brands) Vodafone has the controlling stake only because the UK Government didn’t want a Honk Kong entity to have a controlling or even stake in the new entity.
However, the big issue for Vodafone Group, and the reason they went for this merger is that it has an absolutely colossal debt pile.
Indeed, a lot of analysts believe that the debt pile is a lot greater than the sum of its parts. So, time will tell whether it ends up as a takeover, whether Vodafone actually have the money/backing to exercise the buy out clause in 3 years time.
Both Hutchinson and Vodafone were seeing diminishing returns for shareholders at a time when investment was needed in the infrastructure, so chose to merge to deliver better shareholder valuie.
Yet again corporate greed wins and the consumer loses. Who’d have thought it??!!!
Don’t forget about EE those were Orange and T-Mobile back in the day
Let’s hope it leads to improvements in Three’s network. Yesterday, due to broadband line issues, we had to run on a 3 mobile hotspot for a bit. I was getting a splendid 10 / 2 Mbps on 4G, just a mile from a city centre! 5G still doesn’t even reach indoors around here. Admittedly, a proper mobile router with decent antenna would have probably helped, but I was still surprised how poor it was.
Three? It is Vodafone that have to improve, certainly around here,
three network is great here, but that will not last then,
@AD47UK All of the networks obviously vary from one place to another. In one place Three might be great and Vodafone rubbish. In another place, the exact opposite. Where I am, they’re both great, and EE is terrible.
None of the above changes the fact that, overall, the various network testing companies generally find that EE is the best network across the UK, and Vodafone generally comes second.
This should dramatically improve coverage for both sets of customers, in my area Three are actually very good, easily fast enough to be the main source of internet for the entire house but Vodafone or rather Voxi who offered me a deal I simply cannot pass on are not so good, hopefully this helps or am I completely unrealistic?
You’ll have to wait and see. It depends on where the masts are and if Vodafone decides to keep both masts active.
Like the Orange/T-Mobile merger, some will have better signal and some will lose signal as they remove what they see as duplicated masts.
I work for 3 and the sheer nonsense being perpetuated internally is staggering. What’s more staggering is that lots and lots employees are falling for it.
It’s not even a merger more like a takeover. Lots of duplication in roles, lots and lots of job losses
Less competition means higher prices
The merger is good for noone other than the shareholders
Absolutely spot on Bob
From someone who worked at Vodafone, good luck is all I have to say, prey for the payout and hang on in for it!
This uncertainty has caused a lot of unnecessary shareholder angst. Harold Bishop 2024
Blatant criminality and back handers.
With the political wind of change, those involved at the CMA will be looking over their shoulders for years to come.
Do you have any evidence supporting your claims? Are you claiming that all the directors of both companies and of the CMA have engaged in illegal action while deciding the outcome of this investigation?
Certainly the CMA is not there for us, so nothing would surprise me to be honest.
CMA is as usless as Ofcom, Ofgem and any other organisation like them
I suggest you submit your evidence to the police immediately!
@ish you think the police will do anything? lol
Its one big club and you aint in it.
Bad news for Three users.
Great news for Vodafone users.
So, what will the UK spectrum landscape look like after this merger?
Appreciate it is mentioned in this and other articles I have read, but who will hold what?
And specifically how much will VMo2 hold as they will become the smallest player and they already have challenges with spectrum for delivering data services in the 5G era.
This could give you an idea: https://mastdatabase.co.uk/blog/2023/09/vodafone-three-uk-hutchison-merger/
It shows what could be done with the spectrum.
In the papers that CMA published – “Ofcom told us that the three primary areas of quality improvement would be from greater coverage reliability, reduced congestion and greater availability of C-band spectrum coverage (which is the spectrum providing the highest levels of network capacity). Cumulatively, these benefits would be significant for customers.”
Mark,
VMO2 will be the second largest mobile network (they’re currently the largest). EE will be the smaller one.
O2 doesn’t fully use the spectrum they currently own, so if their 5G is slow, then it’s not because of that. They usually only deploy half of their n78 holdings.
After the merger, VF will have the most spectrum. They’re supposed to sell some to O2, which will be in 2nd place. There’s no agreement to sell EE any spectrum, so as it is, they shouldn’t be the network with the less spectrum.
Is this the end of the Smarty unlimited sim for £15 a month? I use one in a Zyxel NR5103EV2 router and it has replaced my home broadband.
No idea because the merger proposal said that VF3 would like to eliminate plans below £10.
Even if Smarty increased its prices or Smarty was shutdown, you can look into Scancom SIMs.
Smarty is owned by Three. It still makes sense for it to exist post-merger.
What will happen to Three? Are they continuing as separate brands or will Three rebrand to Vodafone?
The merger has only just been approved.
So how long with it realistically be before we start seeing the first signs of Vodafone customers seeing improvements in coverage from a Three mast and visa versa?
I imagine there is a lot of planning and implementation needed.
Sound like Smarty and Three on the way exit soon. Only Vodafone control in UK and European and Worldwide.
Bad news for many employees, staffs and management at Smarty/Three with job lost soon.
Good news. It is ridiculous that the CMA has taken so long to arrive at this decision.
Why is it good news? Do you have shares in Vodafone and acting like those on here who have shares in BT?
To get rid of competition is never good news, well not for the public anyway, we will end up paying higher prices for a worse service, certainly if Vodafone have anything to do with it.
Depends on who you are and where you are based. It will be good news for some and not for others. The last UK mobile merger was T-Mobile & Orange which formed EE.
Nobody can deny that EE is now one of the strongest networks in the UK. They practically win every award, every year.
This could be Three & Vodafone’s chance to rival EE….or not
Agreed, glad the right decision has been made but it would have been nice for it to have not taken this long to reach a decision.
Anyway, if it means ending unsustainable plans to provide a better service than it’s long overdue.
The good news is that they will be able to concentrate their resources into filling-pout their combined networks. This is to the advantage of everyone.
I look forward to Vodafone never upgrading any mast, using fake 5G, charging higher prices and giving lower quality service. What an excellent idea to get rid of the one network that actually does 5G properly and invested in it’s network
EE?
What will be the impact on o2? They have contractual agreements with Vodafone for network access. The two partners are reported to have already started on separating their network assets but it will mean additional costs for vmo2 if they now have to put effort into disentanglement when the resources would be more profitably invested in expanding the network reach.
One aspect of this highlights exactly how ridiculous this is.
The boss of Vodafone says this will not result in prices rises. Yet the CMA has determined that select packages should be legally protected for a period of three years to “protect large numbers” of customers from short-term price rises.
Why the contradiction? If there are no higher prices then the CMA clause wouldn’t be necessary.
I see no contradiction. If Vodafone were not planning any price rises, then they will be quite happy to accept a three-year price cap, as it doesn’t affect what they were going to do anyway.
People always complain about the overbuilding of FTTP networks, saying that it obviously leads to higher costs to build multiple networks when only one is needed. But somehow, that logic doesn’t seem to apply to mobile networks.
Four 5G networks will cost more to build than three 5G networks, and ultimately it’s the consumer who has to pay one way or another.
This country has too many “I’m alright Jack” people nowadays.
How can this be good for the country, jobs and consumers?
Shareholders will be the only ones who’ll benefit, and those who got a backhander.
3 of my contracts are on 3 white label providers and I get very poor signal where I moved but I get amazing signal as for a couple of months ago from my Vodafone contract. So I wonder when the network merge will happen because at least that will deliver one of the things they claim for me at least.
Almost 100% of Vodafone retail stores are franchise, so if you’re 3 retail you’ll either tupe over or you will be given severance.
It could go one of two ways – but you’re not out of a job yet, the legal stuff and full info is next year.
On The Register they’ve got a quote from Vodafone that they “may” buy the other 49% of three after the 3 year period is up. Effectively making the company Vodafone.
Can’t see the three cheap deals lasting past then, and there’s no may about it!!
For everyone that hitting the panic button and being Doom-smiths, calm the fluff down, it’s been confirmed, and actions are yet to happen. Nothings changing yet.
So, keep calm and carry on
I’ve just been looking at Vodafones sim only plans they all have a maximum download speed of 100 Mbps and are expensive. Things aren’t looking good.
I get over 500 mbps on my £15 a month Smarty sim.
Wait until you find out who owns Smarty…
I recieved the bad news yesterday in an email from three business.
They are committed to keep prices low
until they are not.
T-Mobile and Orange created the most expensive network in the UK.
The same will happen here.
EE is also one of the most reliable networks in the country and invest heavily in their tech.
ish, and they’re expensive.
Some of us shop at ALDI or LIDL. Not everyone needs or can afford Waitrose or M&S.
In terms of pricing, I beleive that voda3 will be at the same level as EE post merger. Looks like us cheapskate 3 and SMARTY users will be heading to giffgaff.
This uncertainty has caused a lot of unnecessary shareholder angst. V3 were committed to protecting consumers and business partners from price increases from day one. Burdonsome regulation is always bad for business and consumers.
Overall… this is a great decision that will benefit UK mobile consumers massively in the years to come. Prices will be able to settle at a more sustainable level which will incentivise network investment and product innovation.
I’m excited to hear more about the rollout plan and how efficiency savings can really be ploughed back into core business needs and dividends.
Unbelievable comment. Deluded
Harold, I’m confused:
– “V3 were committed to protecting consumers and business partners from price increases from day one”
– “Prices will be able to settle at a more sustainable level[…]”
If current prices are unsustainable, then they’ll have to increase their prices. So, will they protect customers from price increases or not?
As an investor, you’ll make some money – good for you! – but there’s no need to go around spreading this bs.
@Anon
Yes hilarious contradictory comment above…
The final report confirms that the merger parties must ‘cap “selected” mobile tariffs and data plans for three years, to protect customers from short-term price rises’
So, the reality is some tariffs will stay at their levels for 3 years, but generally prices will increase over the longer term to make the business more ‘sustainable’ for shareholders :))))
I think the hope and the remedy to all of this is that over time MVNOs will get inciresing protections on pricing from legislation/the regulator, as these MVNOs are becoming increasingly popular.
A lot of big players are expected/muted to come into the market as MVNO operators in the coming years eg. Apple, Google, etc.
So, i think that’s where the competition will be focussed.
CMA allowed Vodafone to buy out a competitor & CMA are saying this is good for competition :/
Previously people were vandalising poles because of some internet rumour about 5G covid & 5G high radiation.. wait till price increases happen, people will be vandalising the poles because they cant afford price increases.
It’s a merger.
Vodafone have the option of buying out Hutchinson after 3 years.
@MarkSmith its a buyout disguised as a merger. A backdoor route being used by Vodafone.
Three have already stated long ago that they are going to exit the UK comms market.
Three shouldve been forced to sell to an interested party that isnt an already existing network.
This “merger” gives Vodafone 51% of the company and the option to buy the remaining 49% after 3 years. It’s a buy out with extra steps.
I dont understand why the merger, when Voda have 5G coverage nearly everywhere they have 4G & why Three threw in the towel? especially when Three have built near enough a new network with all their new poles of wonder.
How long do you think before the shops shut and trade under one brand?
“In 2019, the European Commission accused Telefónica Germany of breaching the commitments it made when acquiring E-Plus in 2013. The statement of objections sent to the German company included potential fines or a reversal of the merger. Investigations found that Telefónica Germany did not offer competitors the “best prices” for access to their 4G network. The European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, urged full compliance with commitments made in merger decisions. Telefónica Germany responded that they acted in full compliance with the remedy in response to the Commission’s objections.”
Wouldn’t be surprised if the same happens here
This is a land grab by Vodafone.
They want to take Three’s customers and infrastructure.
Once they have it they can remove the main value brands (ID and Smarty) and the main distruptor (Three itself) from the market.
They will then start customer price gouging of the former Three et al customers with BS about making things simpler they are consolidating plans. In other words you will now have to pay Vodafone prices. With the lower cost option out of the way the other networks can also bump up prices unencumbered by real competition.
@Raymond Exactly.
I just love reading all those comments about Vodafone and 3 UK EE Vodafone 02 and 3 UK are the main networks their lot of Networks using their networks. So if you want cheaper deals go smarty or ID Mobile.
https://www.comparethemarket.com/mobile-phones/content/a-guide-to-mobile-network-operators/
In my area Vodafone didnt stop new mast applications (or builds) during the time of all this merger talk.. however (AFAIK) Three did stop new applications. Three even stopped building some poles that they received the green light for.
Is this true?
Im still waiting for a Three 5G pole to go live near me & it most likely wont go ahead 🙁
Three are probably less stressed now with some weight of their shoulders that Vodafone is from now on part responsible of Three’s 3G-Only masts mess.
A majority of areas will also have VF masts or adequate VF coverage in those areas but are still many 3’s 3G-only areas with no VF coverage to replace.
I also believe that EE is a monopoly in this process of 3’s 3G switch off by deliberately not upgrading their 4G masts that 3 is only having 3G on preventing them to upgrade because most 3’s 3G masts are run by EE on very old kit. EE has no problem refarming to 4G in most cases but 3 has never managed to refarm 3G to 4G on an 3G-Only existing legacy EE mast.
In recent years, EE has been given government grants to expand their infrastructure whilst 3 has no choice to rely on dodgy chinese shareholders that they’ll never find their own money to pay back, in this case they will be using “daddy’s money” (daddy= Vodafone) to pay back and customers price will be reflected after the three year price lock post merger.
Whilst shareholders will be blowing their Chinese yen on their next gamble, us workers will be blowing cold air because of this merger we cannot afford to put the heating on.
Vodafone and Three/Orange merged in Australia some time ago with the company officially known as Vodafone Hutchison. The Orange brand was used for 2G services and Three used for 3G, after the merger with Vodafone, they dropped the Three brand and now only use Vodafone. I would expect them to do the same here in the UK.
Sure Vodafone Hutchison will be the largest network in terms of customer numbers but by the time they fully integrate the networks, EE would overtake them again especially if BT/EE launch a price war dropping prices and then once they reclaim their market share, prices will rapidly go up, so by the end of the decade we will start seeing the price hikes caused by the lack of competition which many have warned about!