![\"\"](\"\/\/www.iser-br.com\/Themes\/Release\/images\/responsive\/ettelecom-default.jpg\")
<\/strong>
LONDON: CK Hutchison<\/a>'s senior leadership met British government officials last month to seek political support to merge its Three UK mobile network<\/a> with Vodafone<\/a> UK in a deal set to receive intense regulatory scrutiny, three sources said.
Vodafone said in October it was in talks with its rival to combine their British networks, with a planned ownership split of 51% Vodafone and 49% Hutchison, the Hong-Kong telecoms-to-ports conglomerate part-owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing.
Antitrust regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA<\/a>) will scrutinise the deal, which would reduce the number of networks from four to three.
The government, however, on Tuesday announced an ambition to deliver stand-alone 5G to all populated areas of the country by 2030, driven by a \"pro-investment framework\", and confirmed its \"openness to market consolidation\".
Hutchison's co-managing director Canning Fok met officials in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government, three sources said, with one describing the meeting as positive. That source said Ka-Shing's son and company chairman, Victor Li, was present.
Fok, who said last month protracted talks were in the final stage, also met Vodafone's interim Chief Executive Margherita della Valle in a push to get the deal over the line, two of the sources said.
Spokespeople for Three UK and Vodafone declined to comment. A spokesperson for Sunak's office said they did not recognise talk of a meeting.
The two companies will say they need to join forces to afford to roll out the next generation, stand-alone 5G networks the government wants.
They could make commitments on network investment when they announce the deal, two of the sources said. They were also considering pledges on customer pricing, although this is less likely, the sources said.
RISING BILLS
<\/strong>
The deal is likely to be announced as millions of customers on all four networks face double-digit rises in their bills, focusing regulators' minds on retaining a competitive market.
The CMA's boss Sarah Cardell said in a speech entitled \"UK merger control in 2023\" in February the risks from anti-competitive deals should not be understated.
A mininum of four operators in major markets has long been a tenet for regulators. An attempt by Hutchison to acquire Telefonica<\/a>'s UK unit O2 seven years ago was opposed by Britain's telecoms regulator and blocked by the European Commission.
The government said in its statement on Tuesday there was no \"magic number\" of mobile operators, while noting all decisions on consolidation were for the CMA.
A combined Vodafone-Three would leapfrog BT's EE and Virgin Media O2 to become market leader, with 27 million customer connections.
Vodafone and Hutchison have invested heavily in 4G and 5G in recent years, but have said their financial returns are insufficient to continue doing so.
\"We are confident our argument is very strong, neither company delivers a return on the cost of capital,\" one senior executive told Reuters. \"The deal would create stronger competition to drive the roll-out of 5G.\"
All of the sources requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
Three UK's chief executive Robert Finnegan said last month that high levels of investment would be needed to deliver the networks that Britain needs, and that levels of capex spread across the current four individual players were unsustainable.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":99479690,"title":"Vodafone Idea showcases anti-phishing solution to Trai, RBI & Sebi","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/industry\/vodafone-idea-showcases-anti-phishing-solution-to-trai-rbi-sebi\/99479690","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"industry"}],"related_content":[],"msid":99491030,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"Hutchison briefed UK government as Vodafone deal set for regulatory scrutiny","synopsis":"Antitrust regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will scrutinise the deal, which would reduce the number of networks from four to three.","titleseo":"industry\/hutchison-briefed-uk-government-as-vodafone-deal-set-for-regulatory-scrutiny","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":810,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":4019000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"Reuters","artdate":"2023-04-14 15:44:39","lastupd":"2023-04-14 16:15:20","breadcrumbTags":["vodafone","Hutchison","telefonica","cma","Three UK mobile network","industry"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"industry\/hutchison-briefed-uk-government-as-vodafone-deal-set-for-regulatory-scrutiny"}}" data-authors="[" "]" data-category-name="Industry" data-category_id="18" data-date="2023-04-14" data-index="article_1">
读到
伦敦:CK和记黄埔上个月的高层领导会见了英国政府官员寻求政治支持合并三个英国移动网络与沃达丰(Vodafone)英国一项协议将接受严格的监管审查,三个来源说。
沃达丰(Vodafone) 10月份表示,在与它的竞争对手合并他们的英国网络,51%的所有权分割计划和记沃达丰(Vodafone)和49%,香港的telecoms-to-ports集团部分由亿万富翁李嘉诚(Li ka - shing)。
反垄断监管机构竞争和市场管理局(CMA)将审查这笔交易,这将减少网络的数量从4 - 3。
然而,政府周二宣布了一项雄心提供独立的5 g的所有人口密集地区国家,到2030年,由“前期投资框架”,并证实了其“开放市场整合”。
和记黄埔的共同管理总监霍建宁Rishi Sunak总理政府官员会面,三个消息人士表示,与一个描述会议看作是积极的。源说)的儿子和公司董事长是李泽钜(Victor Li)。
),他说上个月旷日持久的谈判的最后阶段,还会见了沃达丰的临时首席执行官玛德拉瓦莱在推动这笔交易行,两位消息人士说。
三个英国和沃达丰(Vodafone)的发言人拒绝发表评论。Sunak办公室发言人说,他们不承认的讨论会议。
两家公司表示,他们将需要加入部队承受推出下一代,独立的5 g网络政府希望。
他们可以让网络投资承诺当他们宣布这笔交易,两位消息人士说。他们也考虑承诺客户定价,虽然这是不太可能,消息人士说。
上升的费用
这笔交易可能会宣布数以百万计的客户在所有四个网络面临账单的两位数增长,监管机构的思想关注保留一个竞争激烈的市场。
CMA的老板说莎拉Cardell演讲题为“2023年英国合并管制”2月反竞争协议的风险不应该被低估。
最低限度的四个运营商主要市场一直是监管机构的宗旨。试图通过收购和记黄埔西班牙电话公司七年前的英国单位O2受到英国电信监管机构的反对,被欧盟委员会(European Commission)。
周二在其声明中表示,政府没有“幻数”的移动运营商,同时注意CMA决定整合都是。
结合Vodafone-Three将超越BT的EE和维珍媒体O2成为市场领导者,拥有2700万客户的连接。
沃达丰(Vodafone)和和记黄埔大举投资近年来在4 g和5克,但说他们的财务回报不足以继续这样做。
“我们有信心我们的论点是很强,无论是公司提供资本成本回报,”一位高管告诉路透。“该交易将创造更强的竞争驱动的推出5克。”
所有的消息人士要求匿名,因为谈判的敏感性。
三个英国的首席执行官罗伯特•芬尼根上月表示,高水平的投资需要交付英国需要的网络,和水平的资本支出分布在当前四个人球员是不可持续的。
评论
现在评论 阅读评论(1)所有评论
找到这个评论进攻?
下面选择你的理由并单击submit按钮。这将提醒我们的版主采取行动