The long-trailed merger between Vodafone and 3 was announced this morning, posing a thorny regulatory issue for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) the competition regulator.

If it goes through, the number of  traditional UK operators drops from 4 to 3.

However it seems unlikely the companies would have spent months on merger talks without getting the nod from the competition authorities that a deal would not be rejected out of hand.

Helping a favourable decision would be the fact that most of the competition in the mobile arena is coming from the MVNOs and the structure of the traditional mobile telcos is not as important as it was.

 

 

The regulator may also deliberate over the radio spectrum owned by the merged company and decide whether it can be retained or redistributed.

Whether the merger happens will depend on whether both sides will make the concessions and commitments required by the regulator.

If it goes through, Vodafone will have 51% of the merged company and 3’s owner and Hutchison will have 49%.

It would become the UK’s largest mobile telco with 27 million subscribers.

The merger would cut annual costs and capex  by £700 million.

The current Vodafone UK CEO Ahmed Essam would become CEO of the merged company while 3’s CFO  Darren Purkis, would become CFO.