Eurobites: Vodafone-Three merger faces more flak

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published more comments opposing the proposed merger of Vodafone and Three – including a poll of the views of existing Three customers on the issue conducted by labor union Unite, the results of which, says Unite, show that those customers are more concerned about prices going up as a result of the merger than any 5G boost supposedly created by it. "It is [therefore] no surprise to us that price, rather than speed or coverage, is what drives Three customers' consumer choices," says the Unite statement. "If the deal is passed, all credible evidence suggests that UK consumers – and Three customers in particular – will be asked to pay more."

The CMA has also published a response from an unidentified MVNO, referred to here as "Company C," which, among other points, dismisses Three's claim that it does not constitute a strong competitor in the supply of wholesale mobile services to MVNOs. The mystery MVNO argues that the proposed merger would, by its very nature, reduce the level of competition in the market for the supply of wholesale mobile services by reducing the number of MNOs that could theoretically participate in tenders for such contracts. (See EU waves through Vodafone-Three merger, but all eyes are on UK approval and Eurobites: UK labor union lambasts Vodafone-Three merger.)

Nokia has landed an optical transport gig with Austrian energy company Illwerke VKW. The deployment, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, will span 15 sites in the state of Vorarlberg and provide Illwerke VKW with an upgraded optical network capable of supporting 400G wavelengths and beyond.

Telia has joined the Nordic Content Protection organization to help it address the issue content piracy, specifically illegal TV subscriptions, which are often advertised openly on social media, says the operator. Telia cites figures from a Mediavision study released in May 2024 which showed that 28% of Swedes anonymously admitted that they had watched TV content via an illegal service in the past month – an increase of 8% on the previous year.

T-Systems, the IT services arm of Deutsche Telekom, has appointed Elke Anderl as its new chief commercial officer. Anderl began her professional career in the automotive industry before joining Deutsche Telekom in 1999. She succeeds Urs M. Krämer, who is leaving the company at his own request.