Vodafone and Three first announced plans to merge in June 2023, creating a joint entity with 27 million mobile subscribers in the UK and providing a response to BT's 2016 purchase of EE, as well as the 2021 merger of Virgin Media and O2 to form VMO2. Vodafone and Three justified the combination by saying it would boost the roll-out of 5G infrastructure
Vodafone has chosen Ericsson as its exclusive radio access network (RAN) supplier across Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal, in a five-year deal that the comms tech provider says marks one of the most significant network modernisation programmes in Europe, redefining network performance, automation and sustainability. In addition to becoming Vodafone's sole RAN supplier in the aforementioned territories, the partnership will also see Ericsson act as a major partner in Germany, Romania and Egypt.