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.
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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.
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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.
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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Yes, definitely seeing some improvements here on VOXI (Vodafone) but I think 3 (and MVNOs of 3) customers are seeing more improvements compared to Vodafone around here (originally a lot fewer 3 masts compared to VF).
Three customers have suffered double edge sword type of effect in some areas such as speed caps on plans now but at the same time, measures had to be put in place to control fair usage and existing oversubscribed sites. Though speed capped plans on Three is a very suspiciously Vofafonish thing to do. And some notably worse off value for money increased price introductory offers for Three. In several years, EE may finally look affordable compared to the forming mega operator.
At the end of the day, I would much rather 3 have stayed as it was and not be taken over by Vodarubbish and yes it was a take, over, don’t let then tell you any different. Just like Zzoomm was taken over by Full fibre.
At some point the Three name will vanish. I will stick with Smarty as long as it keeps going, because to be honest, there is nothing now to choose between any of the networks in this country. They are all useless in their own ways. EE, o2 and Vodafone.
Still seems crazy that it have been a year
I’m sorry but this is utter tosh to me. I’m drive from Stevenage to Cambridge weekly, the signal on my work phone is terrible, it’s on the best Vodafone plan. There are so many spots that have 1-2 bars 4G or drops to edge. Vodafone are a travesty and the merger should never have been allowed.
You’re not alone. It’s terrible where I live too (South East of England), and I drive to Warrington once a month from the south coast – lots of gaps in coverage, slow speeds etc.
These made up coverage figures are “population” based.
“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.”
Because of course, the UK public has Star Trek technology that allows them to instantly teleport from one populated area to another.
Even in said populated areas, the bar for “coverage” is so low that even if you get the weakest of 5G signals (which is probably going to be completely useless for any practical purposes), they consider it job done.
And 5G+/5G SA? That’s only available on the very expensive tariffs, meaning that is out of reach for most people (EE does the same).
But if you are wealthy, fear not. For an extra tenner a month, Vodafone will kick out the poor people from their terrible network so you can close that big deal without any interruptions.
That’s strange, I do this drive regularly and listen to live radio over data while driving which hasn’t once cut out. I have disabled 2g so would advise trying that if there is the option to, as my phone now sticks on weak (but usable) 4g/5g instead of dropping to a stronger but useless 2g signal
The execution of the consolidation will take years to complete, so not everyone is going to see the benefits as quickly as those who are already seeing benefits.
The merger was essential because there were too many players in the UK market and the excess competition arising was holding back investment in the networks.
This is a propaganda piece put out by billionaire try to make monopoly palpable.
This is nonsense and a lie because these 2 companies share network infrastructure/use each other master for years.
This same headline is currently doing the rounds on social media and other publications….what a joke.
Independent reporting, if it has not already done so, will show that this is not the case.
Mate, they all share mobile mast infrastructure. I know personally, it’s very true.
@Wezz
No, that is just an immature take on the matter.
Are Lebara using the merged signals yet? I can’t seem to find a definite answer. Their CS just gives me a canned response. Like others have said, lots of 2G Edge only on my travels. Especially on the West Coast Mainline.
I have both Vodafone, and three.
My SIMs do not “roam” on to either even when there’s no three mast nearby. Is it something wrong with my SIM / account? I’d call customer service and ask, but i might as well ask my dog to be honest
This is not “roaming” in the meaning it is used when travelling internationally. You may treat MOCN like a kind of virtual network, i.e. from the same cell tower signal SIMs from two networks will be let in. No “R” icon will show up.
We recently switched from Vodafone to ID Mobile (Three) and there is significantly different coverage to the point where we have no signal whatsoever in some places where it was fine with Vodafone. The need to get a move on.