Britain approves €18bn Vodafone-Three mobile merger

Competition and Markets Authority previously said the deal could push up prices but later accepted a pledge by the two companies to invest in 5G networks

Vodafone and Three have committed to spend €13.2bn to build a better 5G network that will serve 50 million customers, including the subscribers of Vodafone's network sharing partner Virgin Media O2.

Britain on Thursday approved the $19bn (€18bn) merger between Vodafone UK and Hutchison's Three UK to create the country's biggest mobile operator and reduce the number of networks to three from four.

The Competition and Markets Authority had previously said the deal could push up customer prices, but it later accepted that a pledge by the two companies to invest in 5G networks and offer protections for retail and wholesale customers were enough to ease its concerns.