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Vodafone urges UK inquiry into Orange/T-Mobile deal
4 Feb 2010Vodafone today backed the Office of Fair Trading's call for the merger of its rivals Orange and T-Mobile to be investigated in the UK rather than by the European Union.
“It is vital that we see a fair distribution of spectrum in the UK, “ said Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao.
“This is especially important as we are still seeing the cost of making voice calls falling but an increasing demand for data services which require greater spectrum,” he said.
“We cannot allow one group to dominate the airwaves.”
He was speaking as Vodafone unveiled strong third-quarter results and told the City to tweak its figures for the full year to March slightly higher as its main European markets begin to come out of recession and start growing again.
Revenues in the three months to December rose by 10.3% to £11.5 billion, with Turkey returning to growth for the first time in two years and South Africa and India showing strong improvements.
Vodafone said the amount of cash it will generate this year is likely to be £500 million more than previously forecast at between £6.5 billion and
£7 billion. shares in Vodafone rose almost 5%, gaining 6.4p to 140.9p
“Expectations for Vodafone Q3 were low and we would expect the (small) improvement in underlying trading, plus raised free cashflow guidance to be well received, especially after the recent share price declines,” said Mark James, analyst at Evolution Securities.
Reader views (2)
Jp, Is Right, The high streets are full of mobile phone shops all selling virtually the same phones with similar tariffs, and due to competition none of them are making much money, In the case of Orange (French) T Mobile (German) we are no longer sending the strong pound profits across the channel. Its consolidation or close down as both of them have invested too much money in renting shops in the high end rent sector, And dont forget the Internet, when I changed my phone supplier I researched it on the internet, spoke to the "horses Mouth" and had a next day delivery.
- Seeq,, Lake District, 06/02/2010 09:08
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The UK is a geographically small country, with a concentrated population. Five mobile operators with their own infrastructure is very crowded for this marketplace. Even four is probably too many!
A consolidation is long overdue, Vodafone are making the typical noises you would expect from an incumbent worried about its market position.
- Jp, UK, 04/02/2010 12:25
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