Vodafone gets back to basics after failed deal

With a $120bn merger with Liberty Global off the table, Vodafone boss Vittorio Colao needs his strategy of higher network investments and acquisitions of European cable companies to start paying off, quickly.

The world’s second-largest mobile operator abandoned talks with John Malone’s Liberty last week over valuation disagreements that would have seen a swap of assets or a broader merger that could have helped Vodafone, in one fell swoop, offer mobile, broadband and TV in its biggest markets.

Instead the focus now returns to the unglamorous effort to get revenues and profit growing steadily again, especially in Germany and Spain where Vodafone spent €15bn buying cable players Kabel Deutschland and Ono to compete with local leaders Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica.