LONDON, March 9, 2026, 23:25 GMT
Vodafone Group’s UK joint venture, VodafoneThree, is negotiating with Virgin Media O2 for a broadband wholesale agreement, according to reports from the Financial Times and The Times in the past two days. The deal would give VodafoneThree access to sell fixed-line broadband services using Virgin Media O2’s network.
The talks land as Britain’s broadband market hits a tougher consolidation stretch, following years of intense fibre rollout. Virgin Media O2’s backers are already expanding their reach—Nexfibre is set to spend 2 billion pounds snapping up Netomnia. That deal should push their network coverage close to 20 million homes and business locations, tightening but not closing the lead held by BT’s Openreach.
VodafoneThree finished December with around 2 million broadband customers, according to The Times, and is aiming to push that figure above 4 million by 2034. To get there, the company needs wider wholesale access—a key part of its strategy to leverage its mobile scale and boost home broadband sales.
For Telefónica, it comes down to scale, according to executive chair Marc Murtra. At last week’s Mobile World Congress, Murtra pushed the case for consolidation, saying it would let operators “deliver more value” and “strengthen our competitiveness.” Telefónica
VodafoneThree came together in June last year, after Vodafone and CK Hutchison wrapped up their UK merger. With Vodafone holding a 51% stake and consolidating the business, Reuters said then the newly formed group would leapfrog both BT’s EE and O2 to claim the top spot in the UK mobile market.
Pushing hard on broadband and mobile growth, the UK venture is betting big on expansion. Chief executive Max Taylor touts its 11 billion pound drive to roll out next-generation 5G by 2034, describing it as the “UK’s best network.” Vodafone Three
Vodafone’s been active on the deal front beyond this. In the previous month, the company reached terms with Liberty Global to offload its 50% interest in VodafoneZiggo, picking up 1 billion euros in cash and a 10% stake in a new Benelux entity. Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle called the valuation “attractive.” Investegate
Vodafone disclosed Monday that it snapped up 2 million shares on March 6, paying an average 107.71 pence apiece during the session under its ongoing 500 million euro buyback. Those shares are headed for the company’s treasury instead of being canceled right away, pushing Vodafone’s treasury stock up to roughly 1.75 billion shares.
Still, there’s a decent chance the broadband negotiations stall out. According to the FT, plenty of small UK fibre operators are already weighed down by debt and feeling squeezed—so hammering out a wholesale agreement might be tough to value and drag on, even if both camps agree the deal makes sense operationally.
Vodafone finished Monday’s session at 106.85 pence in London, slipping 1.34%.
