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Vodafone Group PLC announced on Wednesday a ‘significant’ extension of its current agreement between Vodafone UK Ltd and Virgin Media O2 UK Ltd. Vodafone UK and Virgin Media O2 agreed to extend and enhance their existing mobile network sharing agreement for more than a decade. Vodafone said that the agreement provides stability for the proposed merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK. However, it added that ‘many elements’ of the agreement are independent of the merger outcome. Ahmed Essam, chief executive of European Markets at Vodafone said: ‘With this agreement and our merger with Three, we will transform the mobile experience for over 50 million customers in the UK for the long-term, providing significant network improvements including more choice, better quality and greater coverage across the country. ‘These benefits extend to both retail and wholesale MVNO customers. The proposed merger, together with this agreement, will boost competition by establishing a strong third player in the UK mobile market and will improve the balance of spectrum holdings, levelling the playing field between the UK’s mobile operators.’ Virgin Media O2 CEO Lutz Schuler, meanwhile, commented: ‘This new agreement with Vodafone ensures that quality mobile network choice, performance, coverage and competition is enhanced to the benefit of millions of consumers, businesses and our mobile operator partners across the country.’ Vodafone shares were 0.5% higher at 69.32 pence each on Wednesday morning in London. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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