The competition watchdog has approved the creation of the UK’s biggest phone network by allowing the merger of Three and Vodafone.
Regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued the decision despite previously saying tens of millions could pay more as a result of the amalgamation.
CMA approval is contingent on the new entity spending billions to improve 5G internet services across the network, it said.
Legally binding targets have been set out for the combined Vodafone and Three to agree and meet.
They must cap some mobile tariffs and offer preset contractual terms to mobile virtual network operators, mobile providers that do not own the networks they operate on, for three years.
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8:17
‘A transformation for the UK’
Both the CMA and communications regulator Ofcom will enforce these, with annual progress reports being submitted by Vodafone and Three. The CMA would be responsible for monitoring and enforcing the consumer tariffs and wholesale terms protections.
This is enough to satisfy competition concerns, the CMA said.
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Better 5g services through increased investment would boost competition between the mobile network operators in the long term, it added, “benefiting millions”.
The decision takes the number of mobile phone networks from four to three and creates the UK’s biggest provider with 27 million customers.
The deal reported to be worth £16.5bn was announced in June 2023 and has been seeking regulatory approval for nearly a year.
Industry analyst Paolo Pescatore said it’s now up to both parties to deliver on their promises. “That should mean wins for UK plc – bringing much-needed investment in the network – and for consumers in the form of better services,” he said.
It will take many years before the full merits of the deal are realised, he said, but added, “Better price guarantees in the next few years will be a big pull for customers.”
The merger will “most likely” be the last major deal the CMA will see in telecommunications, Mr Pescatore said, as there are few strategic moves left within the UK.
The Post Office is considering selling assets or taking on new borrowings to help deliver an ambition to boost sub-postmasters’ pay by £120m this year, its chairman has said.
Sky News has learnt that Nigel Railton, who was confirmed as the state-owned company’s long-term chair last week, told thousands of branch managers that it had ring-fenced £86m so far to increase their remuneration.
In a speech delivered in Chesterfield, Mr Railton is understood to have told sub-postmasters that the Post Office’s board was redoubling its efforts to meet the target of up to £120m for pay rises.
The company was exploring options including additional cost-savings, further asset sales, sale-and-leaseback opportunities, and borrowing options, he told them.
One source said Mr Railton had said on Wednesday morning that without actions already taken by Post Office management, sub-postmasters would be left with pay increases this year of just 2%, rather than the 20% it had now secured.
The progress towards its £120m target comes just three months after the Post Office chairman was forced to deliver a bleaker prognosis to thousands of sub-postmasters keen to have their faith restored in the scandal-hit company.
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In March, Mr Railton said he had yet to gain certainty from Whitehall about a £120m increase for this year.
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3:06
Call to sue govt over delays
“Our funding discussions are positive and ongoing, but I want to be honest that we are operating in a challenging financial environment,” he told them at the time.
The Post Office is reliant on funding from the government, and last November outlined plans for an ambitious transformation of its business, which includes a substantial number of job cuts.
It remains hopeful of making up the £34m shortfall to reach its £120m target, according to insiders, as it seeks to rebuild its public and internal reputation in the aftermath of the Horizon IT scandal.
A Post Office spokesman confirmed Mr Railton’s remarks on Wednesday.
Elon Musk has criticised US President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill, calling it “outrageous” and a “disgusting abomination”.
The bill, which includes multi-trillion-dollar tax breaks, was passed by the House Republicans in May, and has been described by the president as a “big, beautiful bill”.
The tech billionaire hit out at the tax cuts on his platform X, writing: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore.
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
Image: Elon Musk left his ‘special government employee’ role last week. Pic: AP.
In American politics, “pork” is a political metaphor used when government spending is allocated to local projects, usually to benefit politicians’ constituencies.
The White House brushed Musk’s comments aside, claiming they did not surprise the president.
In a press conference on Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill”.
She added: “This is one, big, beautiful bill.
“And he’s sticking to it.”
The White House on Tuesday asked Congress to cut back $9.4bn in already approved spending, taking money away from DOGE.
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13:36
What did Musk achieve at DOGE?
The billionaire tweeted: “It will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
He also suggested voting out politicians who advanced the president’s tax bill.
“In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people,” Musk wrote in another X post.
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Questions have also been raised about whether the department has actually saved taxpayers as much money as suggested.
Musk initially had ambitions to slash government spending by $2trn (£1.5trn) – but this was dramatically reduced to $1trn (£750bn) and then to just $150bn (£111bn).
Image: Elon Musk brought his son X Æ A-12 to the Oval Office during a press conference earlier this year. Pic: Reuters.
He recently told The Washington Post: “The federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realised. I thought there were problems, but it sure is an uphill battle trying to improve things in DC to say the least.”
By law, status as a “special government employee” means he could only serve for a maximum of 130 days, which would have ended around 30 May.
The UK’s exemption from a doubling of duties on most US steel and aluminium imports is dependent on the ratification of May’s trade pact between the two countries, the White House has warned.
Tariffs of 50% were imposed on all shipments from early on Wednesday morning, except those arriving from UK shores which will still be subject to a 25% rate.
Donald Trump decided to “provide different treatment” to the UK as he doubled down on the rates that had been in place since March as part of his early trade war salvoes which are designed to encourage more domestic production.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said of the move: “We started at 25 and then after studying the data more, realised that it was a big help, but more help is needed and so that is why the 50 is starting.”
The decision to spare UK products from the hike currently amounts to a reprieve of just over a month, however, as the clock ticks down to a US deadline of 9 July.
That is when wider “Liberation Day” tariff pauses for US trading partners could be applied.
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President Trump’s executive order said of the UK’s situation: “On or after July 9, 2025, the Secretary may adjust the applicable rates of duty and construct import quotas for steel and aluminium consistent with the terms of the EPD [economic prosperity deal], or he may increase the applicable rates of duty to 50 percent if he determines that the United Kingdom has not complied with relevant aspects of the EPD”.
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2:45
How good is the UK-US deal?
Even if the trade pact agreed with the UK was to be fully enacted by that time, quotas within that agreement could still technically mean that a higher rate will apply in future.
The government of Sir Keir Starmer has said it is continuing to work with US officials to agree the terms.
A spokesperson said: “The UK was the first country to secure a trade deal with the US earlier this month and we remain committed to protecting British business and jobs across key sectors, including steel as part of our Plan for Change.
“We’re pleased that as a result of our agreement with the US, UK steel will not be subject to these additional tariffs. We will continue to work with the US to implement our agreement, which will see the 25% US tariffs on steel removed.”
The UK steel industry was cautious in its own response, while welcoming the reprieve.
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2:42
PM defends UK-US trade deal
Gareth Stace, the director general of UK Steel, said: “Continued 25% tariffs will benefit shipments already on the water that we were concerned would fall under a tax hike.
“However, uncertainty remains over timings and final tariff rates, and now US customers will be dubious over whether they should even risk making UK orders.
“The US and UK must urgently turn the May deal into reality to remove the tariffs completely.”