Mainly for Info re state of play Vodafone / Three

[Enlli]

My concern is the possible reduction in MNVO'S. We have lost Plus Net and Virgin recently. Will Smarty or Voxi survive this tie up.

https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/eu-waves-through-vodafone-three-merger-but-all-eyes...

[madasaf1sh]

I think the MVNO market is a tough place to be at the moment, quite a few have disappeared along with Plus Net and Virgin..

BT closed BT Mobile and Plusnet Mobile, as are moving everyone to the EE consumer brand..

Vectone went pop recently, although that is one of the LycaMobile's sub brands.. 

But there are still lots of them and most of them are on BT (EE's) MVNO Platform..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_virtual_network_operators_in_the_United_Kingdom

[Oxonian]

@Enlli 

Three have said that they are leaving the UK market, which seems to suggest that if the merger is blocked, they will be sold to the highest bidder. The scholarly articles that I have read seem to think that Sky and Amazon are likely bidders, in the they have both the motive and the funds. 

I agree that if the Vodaphone/Three merger goes ahead, a merger of Voxi and Smarty seems likely. However, we do not know what constraints the regulator might put on a merger, and whether say Smarty might have to be spun-off as a separate MVNO. 

There is an element of the unknown here, in that it is impossible to know how ownership of Three by Amazon - or even by somebody like Facebook - would look in a few years.   

[Enlli]

Both Telefónica and Liberty Global want out. So join together, create synergies etc, then flog off to Venture Capatilists or hedge funds

[Oxonian]

Bit of an update here :-

Three’s £2bn dividend payout sparks row over Vodafone merger | 3 | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/31/threes-2bn-dividend-payout-sparks-row-over-vodafone...

[jonsie]

You so remind me of someone @Oxonian 

Long gone but hard to forget!

[Enlli]

Nothing strange it's take the money and run 

The bosses of Wilko did the same.

[Oxonian]

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@jonsie wrote:

You so remind me of someone @Oxonian 

Long gone but hard to forget!

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Thank you @jonsie, that's so very kind of you. 

Happy New Year to you too.  

[Oxonian]

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@Enlli wrote:

Nothing strange it's take the money and run 

The bosses of Wilko did the same.

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Quite @Enlli, it just becomes a bit more controversial when the funds are going offshore. 

[Oxonian]

A bit more here @Enlli :-

Three paid out £2bn dividend before inflation-busting price hikes (yahoo.com)

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/three-paid-2bn-dividend-inflation-122608174.html