Three brand to be axed for business customers following £16.5bn Vodafone merger

The Three brand is to be axed for business customers following the completion of the mobile operator’s £16.5 billion UK merger with rival Vodafone at the end of May

The combined group’s chief executive Margherita Della Valle said the Three Business’s customer base, which past the one million connections mark earlier this year, was much smaller than Vodafone’s. She said the brand will be phased out over the course of the year.

However, she insisted the company was committed to a “multi-brand” strategy for consumers for the foreseable future with both names operating side by side in the UK. “We see it as a positive,” she added.

The merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK, creating VodafoneThree, was completed in May 2025 with a combined customer base of almost 29 million, making it the leading player in the UK.

VodafoneThree, led by CEO Max Taylor, has pledged to invest £11 billion over the next decade to improve the UK’s 5G infrastructure and network capabilities.

Della Valle said integration was going well after the two businesses “hit the ground running” in June. She said Three customers had benefitted from 4G speeds up to 40% faster after gaining access to Vodafone’s network.

The combining of the two networks to create the “Nation’s Network” will lead to the disappearance of 16.5 million sq m of “not spots” - ten times the size of London - where customers previously could not get service.

Announcing first quarter results for the three months to end June Vodafone revealed a 3.9% increase in revenues to €9.4 billion (£8.15 billion) Service revenue was up by 5.3% to €7.9 billion.

The completion of the long-awaited merger with Three drove total revenue in the UK up 14.5 per cent year on year, to €1.93 billion.

EBITDA earnings rose by 4% to €2.7 billion while operating profit fell by a third to €1 billion, largely because the previous year was boosted by the sale of a stake in Indian mobile tower installation company Indus Towers.

Della Valle said: Today, we reiterate our full year guidance of growth in profit and cash flow. After two years of transformation and change, Vodafone is now well positioned for multi-year growth across both Europe and Africa."