Vodafone, Hutchison in talks to merge UK ops / Photo: Daniel LEAL - AFP/File
-
Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation surges despite Taliban govt ban: UN
-
Samsung logs record quarterly profits despite investor AI jitters
-
Microsoft beats expectations fueled by Azure cloud business
-
Shares in Google owner Alphabet plummet on profit miss, ad slowdown
-
Shares in Google owner Alphabet sink on profit miss, ad slowdown
-
US Fed holds interest rates steady despite 'too high' inflation
-
Pioneering US labor leader Dolores Huerta dies at 96
-
Airbus aims for record deliveries despite disappointing quarter
-
US Fed holds interest rates steady despite surging inflation
-
Real Madrid, La Liga apology over Mbappe shows power of Chinese market
-
US labor leader Dolores Huerta dead: family
-
'Cruise for life' strands passengers in Cambodia as operator goes bust
-
French firm Safran helps build aircraft wings of the future in UK factory
-
Canada hikes rates to contain oil price surge caused by Iran war
-
World Bank warns of worsening food insecurity as commodity prices soar
-
Nintendo producer 'all nervous' as Zelda classic remake hits shelves
-
Billionaire Ambani's Jio soars in market debut after India's biggest IPO
-
Three killed by storm in southern India
-
AI chip giant SK hynix posts seven-fold surge in quarterly operating profit
-
Two hundred 'Cruise for life' passengers stranded in Cambodia
Vodafone, Hutchison in talks to merge UK ops
Vodafone on Monday confirmed it was in talks over merging its UK operations with rival Three UK, owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison.
Vodafone said a combination would allow "the necessary scale to be able to accelerate the rollout of full 5G in the UK", which has been partly hampered by Britain banning Chinese giant Huawei from involvement in the technology offering faster downloads than 4G.
Vodafone said it would have a majority 51-percent stake and CK Hutchison the remainder in a non-cash deal.
A merger would "expand broadband connectivity to rural communities and small businesses" in the UK, the statement said.
"The UK government rightly sees 5G as transformational for the economy and society and critical to the UK becoming more competitive in an increasingly digital world," it added.
Vodafone's share price was up about three percent in late trading on London's FTSE 100 index, which was rising only slightly.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted the possibility of "significant regulatory hurdles ahead for the deal, as the authorities weigh up the potential ceding ownership of more core UK infrastructure to an overseas owner".
"Clearly much still needs to be agreed and it's far from certain that this is a done deal, but if it is signed the joint venture with Three UK would create the biggest player in the UK mobile industry," she added.
H.Cho--CPN