Will the merger of o2 and 3 have an impact on lte investment

[adamtemp64]

This report indicates that one of the concerns from the regulators of going from 4 to 3 operators will not impact investment make your own mind up from the info in the report . (regulators think it will be bad)

http://opensignal.com/blog/2016/03/18/data-deep-dive-will-the-merger-of-o2-and-3-impact-u-k-4g-quali...

[Cleoriff]

Thanks for that @adamtemp64. Will the report have any effect on the regulators I wonder. They seem to be stalling a lot...

[Bambino]

This article has some interesting answers to customer FAQ's:

http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/2015/01/three-and-o2-merger-what-does-it-mean-for-you-we-answer-...

This recent article is pro the merger, but being a Three customer myself, I'm not so sure:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/14/its-time-for-three-and-o2-to-be-allowed-to-merge/

[PhoneChanger]

Interesting report there @adamtemp64 interesting to see that there doesn't appear to be any direct correlation between 4 or 3 operators.

Regretfully I feel (my opinion only) that the regulators will block this merger, as everything i've read that has been anything close to "official" has raised nothing but concerns despite 3's owners confirming 5 years of price freezing and a reasonable investment.

[jonsie]

It seems the MVNOs could have a bearing on this, notably Tesco who want to buy out O2's stake.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/08/tesco-seeks-deal-to-buy-o2-out-of-joint-venture-for-m...

"The supermarket, which has had a 50:50 joint venture with O2 since 2003, is aiming to buy the portion of Tesco Mobile it does not already own and secure a long-term deal with Hutchison for capacity on the merged 3 and O2 networks, according to industry sources."

" It is understood that Hutchison is likely to welcome a sale of O2's stake in Tesco Mobile, as the Hong Kong conglomerate believes it would help convince competition watchdogs to approve its own takeover.

The European Commission’s modelling has predicted that consumer prices could increase 6pc as a result of the combination of 3 and O2, according to sources. The figure would fall to 1pc if Tesco mobile was independent, it is claimed."

[Curr946]

Yeah, i posted that story a while back. Interesting idea.

[Bambino]

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@jonsie wrote:

It seems the MVNOs could have a bearing on this, notably Tesco who want to buy out O2's stake.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/08/tesco-seeks-deal-to-buy-o2-out-of-joint-venture-for-m...

"The supermarket, which has had a 50:50 joint venture with O2 since 2003, is aiming to buy the portion of Tesco Mobile it does not already own and secure a long-term deal with Hutchison for capacity on the merged 3 and O2 networks, according to industry sources."

" It is understood that Hutchison is likely to welcome a sale of O2's stake in Tesco Mobile, as the Hong Kong conglomerate believes it would help convince competition watchdogs to approve its own takeover.

The European Commission’s modelling has predicted that consumer prices could increase 6pc as a result of the combination of 3 and O2, according to sources. The figure would fall to 1pc if Tesco mobile was independent, it is claimed."

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Speaking from a personal (and selfish) perspective, as a Three customer, the takeover worries me. I don't want to lose the 'Feel at Home' perk that I have now, and I doubt that Three would be able to afford to provide free roaming for 30 million customers.

I do, however, think that Tesco buying O2's stake isn't a bad idea. MVNO's are what's keeping prices competitive. As long as the three remaining networks improve and maintain the mobile network infrastructure, and @adamtemp64's article seems to bear that out in other countries, then the merger will probably go ahead.

I think the proof of the pudding will be how they deal with the advent of 5G, which really isn't all that far away.

[Curr946]

hold the bus, some folk are still only getting 2G