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VodafoneThree is aiming to more than double its broadband business by 2034, as the newly formed leader in the UK mobile market pledges to create thousands of jobs and upgrade its network.
The company — formed last week by the £16.5bn merger of Vodafone’s UK operations and CK Hutchison’s Three UK — plans to grow its broadband customer base from 2mn to 4.3mn over the next eight years.
Ahead of VodafoneThree’s launch event on Wednesday chief executive Max Taylor told the Financial Times he wants to convince some of the company’s 27mn-plus mobile subscribers to buy its broadband services as well.
“We’ve been the fastest growing company [in broadband] for a number of years now . . . I see our base growing by at least 10 per cent every year,” Taylor added.
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Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, warned that while growth in broadband is possible for VodafoneThree, intense competition means it is “not an attractive market”.
The creation of VodafoneThree is a significant moment for the UK telecoms market, reducing the number of mobile network operators from four to three.
The new company, which has around 13,500 employees, has pledged to invest £11bn into its mobile network in order to provide over 99 per cent of the UK with 5G coverage by 2034. The first £1.3bn of that investment will be made this year.
Taylor said he hoped rivals BT and Virgin Media O2 would follow VodafoneThree’s lead and pledge to upgrade their own networks.
“No other operator has a plan like this . . . [it would be] great for the industry, great for our country and great for customers if they follow,” he said.
VodafoneThree will create up to 13,000 new jobs in the coming years as the company upgrades its network, Taylor said, although he refused to comment on how many of these positions will be permanent.
The chief executive acknowledged some of its 500-plus shops would close, in instances where they are located in close proximity. But he made an “indefinite commitment” that resulting headcount reductions would be achieved through natural attrition rather than redundancies.
Pressures in other parts of Vodafone’s business have left the FTSE 100 company increasingly reliant on its newly enlarged domestic operation.
The telecoms group, led by Margherita Della Valle, reported a 50 per cent drop in TV customers in Germany last year. The decline was sparked by a change in the law that gave customers in housing association properties the opportunity to choose their own provider.
