Vodafone and Three have today published a response to the CMA’s Notice of Possible Remedies (Remedies Notice).
The two companies disagree with the CMA’s provisional findings; they argue the proposed merger will be “pro-growth, pro-customer, pro-investment and pro-competitive for the UK”.
Vodafone and Three say they will continue to engage with the CMA and remain confident that they can work with them to secure approval.
The companies added that their response contains several additional commitments, which they believe “comprehensively address” the issues the CMA has raised.
The companies have restated their commitment to investing £11 billion in a joint network. The CMA previously stated the merged firm would not necessarily have the incentive to follow through on its proposed investment programme after the merger. Vodafone and Three say they are “happy for Ofcom to monitor and enforce this commitment”.
Vodafone and Three argue their agreement would deliver better quality, enhanced capacity and greater coverage to over 50 million mobile customers across the country. The two companies have also agreed to sell spectrum to Virgin Media O2 on completion of the merger; they argue this will create a “better alignment of spectrum holdings in the UK market”.
The companies say they do not agree with the CMA’s provisional findings that prices will increase. For retail customers, the merged company would maintain tariffs at £10 or below for two years from the completion of the merger for customers on the SMARTY brand, social tariffs on both the SMARTY and VOXI brands, and continue measures to protect registered vulnerable customers.
For wholesale customers, the merged company would provide a reference offer that encourages MVNOs to access its additional network capacity.
Vodafone and Three added they will continue to engage with the CMA to resolve outstanding matters until the regulator issues its final decision on the merger in early December.