Three and Vodafone Merger Approved by CMA - Good News?

[DarrenS_1385252]

I just received an email saying that the merger between Three and Vodafone has been approved by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Vodafone are a very expensive operator.

Will this mean the end of the great value packages that Smarty offer?

I hope not!

[SmartyTrousers]

It's impossible to know at the moment. One of the conditions of the merger is that the merged company has to keep certain budget tariffs available for a period of 3 years after the merger, but who knows what will happen after that. 

The boss of Vodafone has said that the merger won't lead to higher prices, but then Vodafone and Three both said they had no plans to reintroduce EU roaming fees if the UK left the EU.. then they did just that.

My thoughts go out to the Smarty/Three staff.. from the odd posting I've seen from them on here they seem like a nice bunch of people, and things must be quite uncertain for them at the moment.

[DarrenS_1385252]

Yes, it must be uncertain for the Smarty staff.

I have the unlimited broadband tariff with Smarty and because I've got fairly decent 5G, this let me get rid of my (Virgin) cable broadband, which was getting out of control expensive.

My average usage is around 300 GB per month. I've seen adverts from Vodafone offering a measly 20 GB for £12.

I don't know where I would find an alternative with good 5G coverage for a similar price.

So I'm a little worried too.

[Rebekah_150]

Hey  DarrenS_1385252,

Here is our help and support article about the merger I hope you find this helpful.

https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/10235435-what-does-three-s-merger-with-vodafone-mean-for-smart... 

[WelshPaul]

It’s not good news for us consumers. I remember when Orange was Orange and One2One/T-Mobile was One2One/T-Mobile. Used to get great offers and plans on One2One/T-Mobile and then EE came along. It’s the most expensive network out there IMO and I have never used them since!

[give-us-eSIM]

> Will this mean the end of the great value packages that Smarty offer?

Almost certainly the Smarty brand will be shuttered. Why keep two challenger brands under one carrier, especially in such a small market that the UK is. Makes no sense. Either Voxi or Smarty will go. 

[MSF]

@give-us-eSIM A lot of assumption there!

It may be that the new management takes the view "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

They may make savings from administration and it may also be that getting rid of any of the networks themselves would put a strain on the remaining ones and therefore not increase profits.

[give-us-eSIM]

Never done much M&A have you? I have; lots. Cuts to consolidate costs are going to hit. It’s just a matter of when, not if, Smarty is shuttered and staff are made redundant. 

[MSF]

@give-us-eSIM Maybe not, but I've certainly run successful businesses.

You are assuming that getting rid of a whole network will itself increase profits due to consolidation. Have you done M&A on mobile networks?

It sounds like it won't bother you much because you will be off to another network as you don't fancy the merger.

[give-us-eSIM]

Why do you think Smarty has a network? It doesn’t. It’s simply a small staffed challenger brand from 3.  There is no way Voxi & Smarty both survive. 

[MSF]

@give-us-eSIM You will doubtless recall that Voxi was established as a brand to appeal to the young. In fact, at the outset they would only accept customers under 30 years old; that was later dropped  - maybe the Equality Act.

This means that companies evolve a new brand in order to attract a different customer base. Smarty was not like Voxi from the outset.

Unless you are privy to the exact details of profitability and total costs of business for each of those sub-networks, I really think this is all pure conjecture.

At the end, we can spout on interminably about it, but 'Que sera, sera'.

Discussion over from me.

[JOHNCHIL_512954]

I've just received a text from Smarty saying my "sweet deal" is rolling over to May 2026. My Smarty deal rolls monthly anyway. So what's going to happen in June 2026 I wonder.